Connecting Home & LBE VR Play
New Content, Technology, Attractions on the Way at VRstudios
The team at VRstudios is heading into 2021 with the major goal of redefining VR gaming by connecting the player experience between home and location-based entertainment venues. They’re aiming to do that through their new VRstudios Sports platform, which the company says has the potential to fundamentally change LBE-VR, assist with businesses in their post-pandemic recovery and give consumers a new reason to come back to FECs.
They call VRstudios Sports an “unprecedented, powerful engagement platform that links players’ in-home VR gameplay with their social, competitive and premium experiences at out-of-home amusement venues like FECs.”
VRstudios Sports features broadly appealing, replayable games that are physically active and competitive, too – closer to real sports than most esports.
“We care deeply about the impact of Covid-19 on the people and businesses in our industry, but we continue to believe in a robust recovery driven by the inherent, and now pent-up, basic human need to connect, meet up, socialize and share experiences together,” noted VRstudios CEO Kevin Vitale. “To that end, I am super excited about the launch of VRstudios Sports as a new foundation to connect players and relationships between home and the LBE facilities. It redraws the traditional boundaries as ‘home’ becomes a new extended LBE location and VR adds a whole new dimension to esports.”
The company’s AMP Player Portal, for instance, includes persistent profiles and leaderboards for play at “Home” and “LBE” – which they say allows the players to seamlessly track their scores no matter where they’re playing.
The first title on the platform, announced earlier this year, was Hoops Madness, a VR basketball experience with realistic shooting and ball-handling. (See the story in the August 2020 issue of RePlay.)
Players, online at home, practice solo or connect to compete in multiplayer matches for up to eight players in a virtual arena setting, surrounded by the exhilarating sights and sounds, the company said. The game is available now in Early Access via STEAM for home players, and on all of VRstudios’ ATOM and FLEX systems at LBE venues.
VRstudios’ VP of marketing Yoni Koenig added, “Bridging consumer engagement at home and the FEC provides opportunities for FECs to build communities by inviting players to be the champ at home and away.”
The company says it’s a powerful option to build awareness with new audiences and maintain a connection to players while they’re at home. This allows an FEC, for example, to promote events and drive in-store revenue.
Soon, VRstudios says they will introduce their new FURY Sports Booth, what they describe as “an innovative, unattended VR attraction designed to reduce the cost of operations for an FEC while inviting guests into VRstudios Sports gameplay.” The attraction will offer a wireless VR gaming experience and integrated UV-C technology for hygiene.
Part of their big goal for the platform will be the application of their patent-pending BYO-VR technology, which enables players to bring their own VR headsets to their favorite LBE locations.
The company says this is “a bold future extension of the VRstudios’ vision for a connected ecosystem spanning home and LBE,” enabling them to develop unique products and solutions that redefine how players and spectators engage in out-of-home VR experiences. It will let them securely bring their own VR/AR devices to their FEC, creating “more experience engagement, personalization and hygiene, while also reducing the cost of entry and operations for LBE operators.”
Learn more about the new content, technology and attractions the VRstudios Sports platform has on the way at www.vrstudios.com.
