The VOID: is this real life?
In-real-life (IRL) gaming experience powered by VR taking you beyond reality.
THE VOID is an in-real-life (IRL) gaming experience powered by VR which takes you beyond reality into a rich immersive experience where you can connect with others, while engaging all your senses. By combining a physical tactile environment with real-time interactive effects (heat, water, smell) and virtual reality visuals and sounds, the VOID goes beyond virtual reality alone in your living room to an in-person, interactive gaming mission with your friends. THE VOID lets you complete a mission in an alternate world in-game in a team, creating an unforgettable experiences and memories. The VOID recently opened their first three complexes with a few ‘stages’ each in Lindon (Utah headquarters), Dubai and New York.
Value Creation:
- Unbelievable realism in a virtual world by engaging all senses in the environment
- It is an in-person experience, gets people out of the house
- Social: play with friends, complete a mission with a team
- People think they spend 15 minutes in a game when they actually only spent half that time in there
Value Capture:
- The VOID is charging $25 for a 12-15 minute run through, depending on how long it takes you to explore the environment
- They are considering also charging a package deal at a slight discount for people who want to explore multiple stages (~3) in one location
Recommendation:
- Stay on top of new hardware releases and invest in incorporating them into the VOID experiences. Consumers expect this. There are many components that need to come together seamlessly to create this immersive gaming experience, so this will be an expensive and challenging uphill task. Given their previous technical delays, this could prove to be disruptive to their business. I would recommend having testing facilities (either a working test studio in their location or make one of their sites a testing ground) for new technological developments, and ensuring a regular update cycle based on the latest technology, perhaps every 6-12 months as the tech gets better.
- Developing new content so each location can support multiple stages and produce new experiences to support local frequent gamers is also an onerous task. The VOID will have to figure out how to support an expanding portfolio of content in their limited physical infrastructure (Utah location has 2-3 stages now). Eventually, this part of the stack may have to be modularized to keep up with the pace of the business. Assuming the VOID team sees their core competence in staying at the forefront of immersive / in-real-life (IRL) gaming technology and running these complexes, they should outsource by partnering with content creators for new content.
Going forward, the team’s plan is to expand the VOID globally and built over 20 complexes just in 2017 in cities around the world. They are hoping to be the first entrants in this space and execute a land-grab quickly across cities in the world. It is a massive and ambitious goal, but if executed fast and well, it could be the next generation movie theatre or in-city theme park for urban populations of the world.
Infinite Dimensions: Hands-On With The VOID’s Latest In Utah
The Void Opens Location In Utah With Upgraded Hardware And Ghostbusters
This sounds super fun! We should totally go sometime! I like how it combines the social adventure component of Escape the Room with the immersive experience of VR. While content and stage will be the largest cost drivers, it stands to be a long-lasting entertainment option. I could see it licensing out its “plays” to franchises and the likes. Products like this helps the VR/AR industry get adoption quickly, which is encouraging.