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The Stinger Report #1257 - Orlando Entertainment Extravaganza! Part 4
Leading investors should note the industry’s rapid shift towards immersive active entertainment, exemplified by innovations like Gel Blaster’s Gen2 platform, social media integration, and gamified trampoline experiences. Interactive floor games, such as Pixel World and Illumination systems, are expanding with partnerships like Atari, signaling a competitive and fast-growing market. The sector also sees significant investment in themed active zones and new amusement releases, including high-profile arcade titles and VR experiences, notably LAI’s Ubisoft All-Star VR. Overall, the industry is embracing physical, social, and digital convergence, offering substantial growth opportunities in experiential and active entertainment sectors.
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This is the Stinger Report, issue number 1257, Orlando Entertainment Extravaganza Part 4 by Kevin Williams. We continue our extensive coverage of the Orlando Amusement and Attraction Trade Extravaganza. And continuing to chart the key trends shaping the industry, we look at the active entertainment and the new developments in amusement. Orlando's IAAPA Active Entertainment. The explosion in immersive active entertainment, representing highly physical entertainment with a strong gamification and social structure, was reflected as another major trend represented on the IAAP, 2025 exhibition floor space. One of the most proven active entertainments is LaserTag, and IAPAR25 saw the latest derivation of the technology. Gel Blaster Nexus, having already redefined the shooting experience with their multi-use platform, incorporating physicality through their gellets. The system has seen installations across 75 facilities with plans to have 150 opened by early 2026. The company came to IAAPA with their latest technical innovation. With Gen 2 Platform, the new gel blaster weapon incorporates the innovation of supporting social media and player capture. Through a smartphone app, the player's phone can be attached to the side of the blaster and during the game capture player action from the front and back cameras automatically. This footage is then automatically compiled by the app into a showreel of the player's game capturing shooting and player hits on their vest. An amazing shareable show reel to share across guests' social media feeds and incorporating promotion of venue and platform. This could be the biggest development in guest engagement, and we look forward to seeing the trending of players' social media Instagrams and TikToks using this captured coverage. Gel Blaster were operated down the road from the IAAPA show floor at the local main event venue. The Gel Blaster Arena offering an interesting opportunity to see the application of the current gel pellet experience in real-world conditions. Many new laser tag platforms were revealed during the show, along with new weapon systems and more competitive scoring architectures. It is obvious that the laser tag sector is looking to reinvent itself following recent calamities, some developers having pivoted into other active entertainment aspects alongside their shooting game focus. We hope that the Amusement Expo in March 2026 will offer a launch pad for us to report in more detail on these developments and the landscape ahead for the sector. Along with being represented on the Creative Works booth, Valo Motion had a strong presence on the IAAP A25 Orlando show floor with their full range of media-based active entertainment. This included the new version of the Valo Arena, along with the Vallo Jump and Vallo Climb platforms, supporting updated experiences. Another trampoline-style active entertainment platform was represented on the Funspot Manufacturing Booth, showing Playo's Playo Station interactive jumping experience, offering a glimpse at the suite of active gamified platforms. The gamification of trampoline experiences offers a new avenue to retaining audiences for established parks and new operators. The physical active game experience was represented also on the Sissy Fox booth, with their new jumping game, with players standing on their individual jump pad, with their character represented on screen, their jumping controlling their character in a fun competition, the highly physical game proving fun to player as well as fun to watch. Another example of the trampoline game experience incorporated into a video game experience was seen on the Antalya Park Technology booth with their trampoline game enclosure system for two players. Active floor gaming, one of the fastest moving trends in active entertainment, has been the explosion in interactive game floors. A slew of examples was presented on the IAAPA show floor, and along with these developments, the show revealed the possible future for this application. Pixel Games showed their new Pixel World range of active illuminated floor and wall experiences with a turnkey steel structure. The company has established their lead with their initial platform and presented their new development for the Pixel Game platform, including the signing of a partnership with Atari, creating a version of the iconic 1972 game Pong developed for the Interactive Floor Platform. This mixing of a classic video game playing style into a life-size game interface opened the door on other iconic video game classics being reinterpreted onto this unique playing platform. The developers confirmed they were in talks to apply other Atari games into this format. Other aspects of the Pixel World range were represented with the new Quickshot Shooting Gallery system, using the new Fusion Laser Force guns and an illuminated target wall. The company also had a version of the Pixel game with angled floors offering a more active experience. All these applications were part of Pixel Games plans, looking to package their group of games into a facility-style offering that can be dropped into existing locations or be fielded as a standalone application. News regarding further developments expected in the coming months. Moving along the show floor and Delta Strike, the Laser Tag developers also presented their active entertainment platform with their grid, the Illuminated Floor Platform with their own selection of mini games. While Battle Company also represented their floor game system with FlashPad, offering an up to eight-player illuminated floor game experience. And finally represented on the LAI Games booth was the developer Future of Gaming, FOG, with their hyper-grid active illuminated game floor and wall platform, configured as a turnkey solution. Now installed in over 50 locations. Interactive pixel floor games look to be an extremely competitive market, and as some companies move from illuminated tiles to full LED floor and wall applications, the market is expected to continue to accelerate. Active Entertainment was also on supply from Funovation with their Recutter Button skill game and infinite laser challenge experience. While Active Entertainment does not get more extreme than what was seen on the Skytech Sport Booth with their interactive sports simulator, including the Snowsports Simulator, with its realistic skiing action. The company also presented at the booth their botboxer punching training platform that incorporates AI game profiles. There was also the Balance Play Pro platform offering a virtual snowboarding experience. Highly physical action has proven popular from companies such as CSE Entertainment coming to IAAPA25 to promote their selection of active entertainment platforms for entertainment, hospitality, and education, such as their iWool platform. The company, along with Cyclo Beat and Run Beat platforms, came to the show with brand new children-scale versions of their popular platforms with a new iWool Kids and CycloKids. This offering younger users a chance to enjoy the physical interactive action from the originals. Away from the Orlando trade floor and talking of the investment into active entertainment and CEC Entertainment launched their brand new entry into the space. They had been linked to redesigning their 125 in-store activity area adventure zones, rebranded superhero playgrounds, but November marked the opening of Chuck E. Cheese's Adventure World in Arlington, North Texas, a totally new 12,000 square foot facility comprising several active entertainments with slides and climbing frame and a smattering of amusement, aimed at an audience aged between three and eight. Many of the initial reactions to the opening was the similarity of the overall interpretation of this world and comments regarding his familiarity to the doomed Discovery Zone model from circa 1989. The last of those failed venues were acquired by CEC Entertainment in 1999, Orlando's Amusement Mix. The expansion in new FEC and entertainment facility opening has also been reflected in an explosion in new video and prize amusement releases. This year's IAAPA, awash with a record number of new amusement launches. Leading the charge in the game and arcade pavilion area of the show, and Bets and Enterprises represented the raw thrills range of new releases. The big showing was given to Godzilla Kaiju Wars, the non-VR version. The two-player mounted shooting game was turning a lot of heads. Comparisons with the VR version regarding its changed gameplay and obvious lower price point was the center of discussions for some prospective operators. It was interesting that Raw Thrills decided not to bring the VR version as a comparison to the show, the only VR showing on the booth being the previously launched King Kong 2. Another new release with a unique twist was Jackpot Racer. The colorful ride on motorcycle turned into a ticket redemption release. The game reported to be seeing strong interest. One of the big showings was the continued popularity of Top Gun Maverick, shown in all its glory in its DX motion big screen configuration. The game has wowed many players and offers the type of play and competition expected from a popular racing game, but with a wider appeal including blasting ground, air and sea targets. A previous mounted shooter, Angry Birds Boom, was also present, now with the new jackpot software update. Also receiving a software update was the latest version of Big Buck Hunter reloaded. The software content update, offering new animals such as goats to blast, offered free over an online download for existing operators. The booth also represented other third-party product ranges from ice games, LAI games, and benchmark games. Taking a major presence at the theme park and attraction show Sega Amusement International, SA, Wanchi's Kaizen presented a selection of previously released prize and amusement, along with new titles. Leading their lineup included Daytoner Championship USA Motion Edition, reviving the competition of four-player network play, seen with the original 1990s release content in a new cabinet, a twin version on display at the show. The booth also had MyMaiDX on display for delegates, the music rhythm game that originated the touchscreen playing style, this marking the trend of music games that are gaining strong popularity from operators. Sega Japan having stated 6,000 units sold in Asia and hope to repeat that success in the West. SAI has taken the leap of faith to launch the translated version of the game with Western server support, offering 1,100 plus songs. Also on the SAI booth was the new release Putt It Party, what the company described as a high-energy, skill-based redemption game, a golf-based interpretation of skee ball, the eye-catching game with its own digital screen offering network play. This new game offers a strong amusement piece that we can see at home in FECs, but also opened the door on being an addition to the social entertainment scene. We look forward to seeing how this product fares in this sector. Also on display was Simon Arcade, a redemption ball thrower based on the popular electric toy property. Both these games were developed in-house by SAI. One of the few amusement distributors to have VR on their booth was SAI, who continued to present their Alpha Ops VR Strike platform, launched last year in partnership with 3 Mindwave. Bandai Namco Amusement America had a strong presence at IAPA 25 promoting previously released titles, such as Goldstorm Pirates and their music game Taiko no Tatsujin, but also wanted to look towards third-party representation. One game on the booth that seems to have taken a circuitous route from it was first seen a AAA 25 earlier in the year is Speedrider 4DX, the highly eye-catching ride-on-motion, swivel bike game. Developer IGS slash Bao Hui had hedged their bets in partnerships to represent the game in the West, with SAI holding the game but favoring BNAA for the North American sector. Another Chinese third-party representation on the BNAA booth is the future, an environmental cabinet two-player mounted shooter with motion benches, the game developed by Superwing Animation Technology and a game that we missed during AAA 25. Superwing's other new environmental cabinet game was represented at the show with Mini World Motion, the Chinese-based IP, in the vein of Minecraft, as covered later at their booth. It was confirmed that some of the games shown on the booth were to be represented for the European market by BNAE. While BNAA wanted to make it clear that these Chinese third-party representations allowed the operation to offer great new content, and that they had worked closely with the developers to westernize these titles to make suitable for their extensive customer base. It was suggested that the relationship with Superwing and others was like past decade relationship with Unis to bring them into the Western market. That BNA has pivoted so hard towards representing Chinese third-party games speaks more about the availability of strong amusement content from this territory and its suitability to be sold to Western operators, though the possible impact of increasing pricing may prove a problem. The importance of the reignited music game scene was also reflected across at the Steppe Revolution booth, with their updated deluxe cabinet taking pride of place next to the standard systems. With the latest tournament and music updates, Steppe Revolution was keen to promote these as the highest earning dance games in the territory. Major amusement presents at the show saw LAI Games take one of their largest booths at IOPA. For the US show attendees, they got their first chance to play the current version of Ubisoft All-Star VR, the hoped successor to Virtual Rabbids. This was a 90% complete version of the game first seen in Barcelona. The two-rider interactive VR game includes D-Box motion seating and DP VR headset. The game also has a unique steering and shooting mechanism, the whole system patent pending. Clearly, the game experience is still receiving play updates, needing to be homed for the core audience, and we should have the final version by Amusement Expo 2026. Another new release was the final version of Cyberpunk 2077 Turf War. The projection mapped BB shooting game with storyline and competitive challenge was officially launched at the beginning of the year, but it was confirmed that this version at the show was the final production version that is now being shipped, following its own play updates. LAI also presented on booth their new octagonal cabinet concept with the game Soccer Rocker. Players enter the cabinet and kick the ball at the targets. The game offers 12 game modes to choose from and includes a competitive leaderboard. This was another of the active entertainment concepts at the trade show, underscoring the importance of this growing trend in game design. The company also represented the Wallap latest shooter, Phantom Vanguard, and Kaiju Rampage Unite, we will mention later.
