Sound Off #108 - Meta's VR Retreat, Genda's M&A strategy, and more!

Sponsored by Intercard!
Sponsored by Alan-1!

On this week's show we weigh Meta’s VR retreat against the strength of premium, social LBE VR, then follow the money through rebrands, mergers, and a wave of manufacturers turning operator. Along the way we call out hard lessons on platform risk, event-led activations, and how edutainment sustains repeat visits. 
 
• Meta reduces VR spend, LBE VR value remains distinct
• Risks of building on consumer headsets and walled gardens
• Amazon Go’s closure and pragmatic automation for venues
• Merlin’s new branding and strategy signal watching
• Manufacturers entering operations for recurring revenue
• Genda’s layered acquisitions and market impact
• Phantom Peak expansion and season-driven loyalty
• Competitive socializing formats and funding momentum
• Atari hotel pullback in Vegas, IP applied to scalable formats
• Airports adding arcades and the upkeep reality
• Virtuix Omni’s Nasdaq listing and LBE implications
• Pop-up Toca Social sports bays ahead of the 2026 World Cup
• Shuffleboard tech clarification and Shuffly launches
• Amusement Expo session on social entertainment’s impact
• AWE presence urged for LBE XR operators 

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Transcript

Meta Pullback Sets The Stage<br>

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Are you on the edge of your seat? Because we're about to start with Helen William, covering today's latest trends in location-based entertainment. Brought to you by the LBX Collective, your community to connect, engage, and inspire. All right, everyone, let's buckle up.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Kevin, my friend, how are you doing, sir? Uh, where did January go? I don't know. It went by so fast. It's crazy. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

We're hurtling along. I am fine. I hope I find you fine, Brandon.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Yes, doing very well here in uh in February of 2026. But uh all right, well, that being said, how are you going to change my mind here at the beginning of this month?

Consumer VR Vs. LBE Reality Check<br>

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Well, it's a story that really broke at the beginning of last month, but um, you know, we've we've got a little bit more detail, uh, and I'm trying to calm down the panic and uh and the madness and try and define the situation. So I feel that the news about Meta uh extracting themselves from their metaverse and VR uh boondoggle is good for us in location-based uh entertainment because it defines the battle lines and it defines the experiences. That's really what I'm fighting for here. So, for those of you that have uh enjoyed living under a rock, and uh have you got any space for one more? The uh issues are that uh our friends at uh Meta had to admit uh that you know their investment into the metaverse and VR, uh an investment of$83 billion over the last six years, uh, has um not gone the way that they thought it was, and that uh quotes like VR hasn't been adopted uh the way that they thought it was going to be. Anyway, they decided to pull 30% of their investment out of VR and they're putting it into their uh augmented reality and AI-powered glasses. They uh have just dumped uh about 1,500 staff with more to follow, and they've just started slashing all of their investment into VR, closing down VR game studios, even in the midst of game development, um, and closing down their business development uh for uh the meta, so leaving a whole load of uh educational and commercial and entertainment hopeful users of this system in the lurch. And you know, it is a purge. Uh they claim that they will not be uh leaving the VR scene, and they promise that they're working on new hardware, but I wouldn't hold your breath of when you're going to see that. That all said, when people are coming to me and they're becoming a lot saying, oh, VR's dead, what are we going to do in the location-based entertainment industry? I point out that Meta had invested in consumer VR and their fantastic aspirations in the metaverse. They were a failure from the start, and the the level of attack and abuse that you received for criticizing them kind of indicated that a lot more people understood that this was turning into an Emperor's New Clothes approach. For a vanity project, Marcus spent a lot of money, but this is not the VR industry per se. This is a component of an initiative that this corporation took in the consumer VR sector. And we're not in the consumer VR sector. We're in the location-based commercial entertainment sector. We offer experiences that are compelling and have proven revenue generation. And so let's not throw baby out with the bath water, let us re-guird our loins and prepare ourselves to have to defend our position of why our experiences are better than what you could achieve on the singular home systems. We are premium immersive entertainment, and I would favor forcing the XR uh approach to the business to the front rather than saddling ourselves with the inevitable toxicity of what is Meta's failure.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

I agree with all of that. Um, I do think, though, that Meta's failure is a problem for those who have built their LBEVR or XR experiences around the MetaQuest platform. And so that is uh that is the issue that they are going to have to deal with. And obviously, there are other headset manufacturers, other platforms out there. We don't need to list them all here, uh, but it is going to be a painful process for those who did invest heavily into the MetaQuest headset for their LBE VR experiences. I hate to say it, but we told you.

Platform Risk And Vendor Lock-In<br>

SPEAKER_02 5:12

We warned you. I've been warning companies since uh 2014 about the dangers of uh tying yourself to a consumer headset, no matter how cheap or subsidized, as we have to admit, no matter how much of a walled garden led by a multi-billion dollar corporation, the corporation sees you as a boil upon a boil, you know, and they lance the boil and you are gone. And for those companies now that are looking at 200 MetaQuest III headsets sitting in their facility with a license that uh is not going to be operational, with service that is not uh non-existent, and for money that they've paid for their uh subscription service to the uh the Horizon for Business approach, they feel similar to the the picture that we're using here in the slide. Um I argue that if they want to know the alternatives, headsets that they can use, uh there are many resources out there, including emailing us to be pointed in the right direction. Uh, I would also argue that um if you try and use a Porsche turbo to plow a field and the car blows up, you only have yourself to blame for not buying a tractor. I know that's flippant, but we need to be realistic here. Cutting corners doesn't save you anything.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

All right. Well, coming up right after the break, we'll dive into the trends. Intercard is the only cashless system designed, developed, and manufactured all under one roof. They introduced cashless technology to the amusement industry and have been leading the way for over 30 years. Cashless system from Intercard increased customer spending, gets satisfaction, and boosts revenues by up to 30%. Intercard is so proud to be serving the amusement industry. And if you aren't already part of their global family of customers, they hope you will become one soon.

Amazon Go Unravels And LBE Lessons<br>

Break And Sponsor Message<br>

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Thank you, Intercard, and straight into the economy trends. And one of the stories that we were touching upon in Open and Sharp was uh the closure of all of the Amazon Go and uh Amazon Fresh facilities. These were those magical sites that were powered by AI, uh hopes, dreams, pixie dust. Uh, we suddenly found out that the uh walk-in, grab it and go uh camera-based technology wasn't as much uh AI as a little bit of smoke and mirrors, and AI actually stood for actually Indians, uh, as we found out that there was a large workforce going over all of the imagery that was captured and flagged by this system. It didn't achieve what they had hoped for, uh, and Amazon made it clear that they were going to be closing all of their facilities only a matter of days before they made the major announcement that they would be purging about 16,000 employees from their operation internationally. So some of these venues are going to be turned into whole food uh conventional grocery stores, though a number of them are going to be vacant, so that means we may see some uh entertainment venues going into the fresh.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Yeah. Uh well maybe we'll see. Um but uh as I mentioned on the you know, on our open and shut a few days ago, I am disappointed that this didn't work out. I mean, it had a lot of like it had the flavor of walking into the future when you walked into one of these. And obviously there was a lot of smoke and mirrors going on behind the scenes to make it work. Um, like as I referenced the wizard behind the curtain in Oz. But uh at the same time, it was uh it was really compelling and um like really somewhat enjoyable to just kind of walk in, get what you need and go, uh, as they uh as they called their own stores, Amazon Go. Um, and uh really enjoyed it. And it was just too early, probably just too soon for its time. Um, but you know, maybe we'll they'll give it another shot in 20 years from now or 15 years from now as AI improves and as um you know camera recognition improves.

Merlin’s Rebrand And Strategy Signals<br>

SPEAKER_02 9:27

You're right, it was ahead of its time, but that is the risk you take when you want to try and dominate the market. Uh the Amazon platform, uh their AI uh recognition and retail platform is pushing itself into many markets and they have to establish it early. Uh, I think they were a little too early and a little bit too ambitious, but anyway. We also need to be mindful that we have experiments in the location-based entertainment on this approach. Our friends at Dave and Busters opened up uh at least two uh facilities uh or units within their facilities that were based on the um walk-in, pick up the snacks uh and soft drinks and go if uh through the card recognition. I have heard zero about how that uh project was going. If it was one of those projects that was culled during the last management restructuring, uh it is going to be technology that is going to be ubiquitous in our industry and ubiquitous in our lives. It was just that this application and this management approach wasn't ready for market yet. Moving on and into the biz. And we have some interesting sleuthing. Thank you to our sources, who now present us the brand new Merlin Entertainment Branding. Uh, this has just been uh put through uh Company House and will be deployed across the brand as uh the new Merlin uh logo IP. Um and you'll notice that there's one thing kind of missing from the brand new Merlin logo and branding. The word entertainment's missing. I think it's done to make a sexier and more uh positional uh uh brand. These are the early um branding uh copy logos, and we expect them to be plastered across all of their facilities uh by the middle of the year. But the disappearance of the entertainment phrase and the going for a brand that some people have likened to an online bank uh logo kind of is concerning. Um, it kind of points in the direction of where the company is positioning itself. Uh, the rumors about one of their parks maybe being put up for sale and restructuring of the management. We saw the brand new CEO coming on board, kind of uh makes us raise an eyebrow to uh what they're doing and how they're positioning themselves for the future. I am using Merlin as a bellweather of uh the resort and entertainment sectors, uh survivability and health. Uh, and uh to see a logo such as that um raises an eyebrow.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

It certainly does. Uh, this is another move by Merlin that just is at least going in the direction that seems to, I don't want to say confirm yet. It hasn't confirmed anything, but it continues to lead me to believe that my medium prediction at the beginning of this year, where Merlin will file for bankruptcy or go through a major capital restructuring, um, will happen this year. And this feels to me like the start of that process. Whether they, you know, normally this would happen after a bankruptcy, uh, you know, where they're they're doing this, but this this could be the lead up to some sort of capital restructure, major management overhaul, or something to that extent, uh, as they begin to uh reshape their brand and reshape their focus as well on what they actually are planning to do as an organization going forward.

Manufacturers Move Into Operations<br>

SPEAKER_02 13:17

I don't, as a traded company, I don't want to get into uh avid speculation over bankruptcies or uh or such like I believe it's a repositioning, and I'm hoping that the new management team is getting ahead of the curve and uh sorting out their internal structure so that they can come out of this as a leaner, uh cleaner fighting machine. The loss of uh the Legoland Discoveries was uh an obvious uh indicator of such things uh regarding restructuring. We wait and see if the rumors about one of the possible uh theme park attraction venues being uh offloaded is true. Uh, and at that point, um, so we say the uh Confermo meter will move up a couple of points. But at this point in time, it is an interesting bellwether that we see Merlin go for this kind of branding approach. Moving on, and mergers and acquisitions are plenty in our sector. Our friends at uh Brojent have uh decided to break into the facility game. Uh their motion ride uh and media-based attraction technology is employed in a number of venues around the world. And uh Flyover, uh in England that would be a motorway uh off-ramp, but flyover uh is a popular um soaring style uh entertainment attraction that's put at uh high tourist locations. Um they have venues in Canada, Iceland, uh, and uh around America. And now to be acquired from the pursuit uh organization kind of indicates that rather than selling hardware to companies to make money off of, uh Brogent has decided to operate the facilities so they get a slice of the recurring revenue as well as deploying their hardware into the market. And I wouldn't be surprised if we see a spurt in activity, especially in Taiwan, uh, of flyover venues opening up. We know that the scoring style attraction is popular, the 4D uh suspended uh dome style uh experience is an audience pleaser, especially in tourist areas. And I wouldn't be surprised by the end of this year if we don't see a number of venues announced that will be following this format.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

This seems to be a trend. Maybe should have been a trend that I called out for 2026, but uh it certainly is it certainly is growing. Um, you know, we have seen that with DOF Robotics and investing in some of their own facilities. We've seen that now with TrioTech announcing their facility up in Canada. Uh, there's a few others that uh, you know, Vallo, you know, Valomotion has talked about doing some of their own Valo um Valor Park uh locations. And then you know, there's uh another one I was just speaking with this week that's under embargo, but um, that is looking to open up their own park using some of their own technology and uh and products. And so this is definitely um an interesting time where we're seeing manufacturers and suppliers getting into the operations business.

Genda’s Quiet Consolidation Strategy<br>

SPEAKER_02 16:41

I wonder if we sign the same embargo. Anyway, the uh uh it is clear that the manufacturers of these attractions uh don't want to uh sell the milk, they want to own the cow, uh as it were. And we are at that point where if you are a manufacturer of machines and you run your own facilities, that is fantastic, but you are also closing the door on some facilities using your technology because they feel that you are indirect competition. So there are swings and roundabouts with this approach. Though that said, the market seems ripe for the technology providers to deploy their technology and content into the market compared to selling it at an inflated price that can be prohibitive to their installation. So it's a swings and roundabouts situation we find ourselves in, but it's not the only one. Uh our friends at uh Journey have uh decided to uh uh acquire the uh Scruffy Dogs Creative Group. Um, for those of you that are not familiar, the Scruffy Dogs guys are the ones that come up with the ideas and the development for a number of uh attractions in parks as well as uh standalone uh installations. A number of the attractions that were in the Lego uh resort uh facilities were developed by our friends at Scruffy Dog. Uh they are a well-respected uh operation in the fabrication, development, and delivery of attractions. And for journey, um, this allows them as a you know, I say multi-uh dimensional, I don't mean they warp through uh uh uh the fabric of time, but uh that they they sit in a number of disciplines uh as it were, and for this, this kind of cements their transmedia uh development aspirations. Moving on in another merger, couldn't talk about it in too much detail uh during uh the EAG coverage, but uh on the LaserQuest booth, LaserQuest is uh uh a well-known UK uh Laser Tag facility operator and platform seller. Uh and they have decided that their facilities now are going to uh incorporate much more active entertainment and attractions along with uh as companions to their laser tag facilities. Uh and the same argument goes. If you are going to install these platforms into your facilities, then maybe it's a good idea to own the cow that is going to be supplying the milk. And so they have sat down with uh the UK Complete Solutions, a VR Solutions Company, who have a very strong track record in developing virtual reality 4D uh uh VR uh experiences, and that now will become uh LaserQuest solutions. They will still continue to sell their platforms into the market, but they will also now have the power of being associated with uh a respected uh facility operation. It is just another example of what we were talking about earlier.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

Yeah, it certainly is. This is a little bit more of an interesting merger acquisition than the ones we were talking about. Um it's almost like a kind of a reverse merger. So LaserQuest acquiring complete VR versus a manufacturer of uh of devices acquiring the operations arm. And so um interesting that LaserQuest is making that move. They probably were very close strategic partners and just decided to finally uh get married.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

Yes. Uh and this particular marriage is going to be producing a lot of interesting offspring. How much of that will be exclusive to their facilities or sold onto the open market is dependent uh on the structure of the business model going forward. But uh I would say that this is the beginning of a trend that will be difficult to uh evaluate up close, but in a few years' time, when you're looking at a facility, you may not really care anymore that that company used to manufacture uh the product. You'll be caring more about the revenue that those attractions uh that they have in their facility are generating. Uh and Argenda Moment, uh, as always, another virtual reality uh company, um, as well as a company that develops 4D style attractions in Japan. Dynamo Amusement uh have taken on board uh Media Fronts, the uh latest acquisition, acquisition, acquisition. Um Media Front actually runs uh uh a VR uh entertainment facility in Japan as well as develops attractions and installation, VR installations for other people's facilities. So Dynamo Amusement is you know one of those companies that is facilitating, developing uh and installing. It was part of the reason why. Gender took them on board because a number of the Gander entertainment facilities that are opening up have VR entertainment attractions. And this is the logical continuation of the world domination tour that they seem to be uh involved with at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

This is you know, this is interesting. Uh I guess not so much the Dynamo Media Front acquisition, but how Genda is going about acquiring companies now. Um for a long for a while we were hearing Genda acquiring these companies directly. So Dynamo Amusement, you've got uh, you know, player one, for example, but now you're beginning to hear these individual, uh, these separate companies acquiring companies. And so you're uh a few steps removed from the overarching Genda. And I'm not sure what the direct reason for that is, other than maybe to obfuscate uh a little bit what they the moves they are making in the market.

Phantom Peak Expansion And Loyalty<br>

SPEAKER_02 22:57

Yes, my flippancy about world domination has been recognized by some companies, and it is easier to uh uh smooth the transition of certain corporations into the uh the group, as it were, uh, if it is coming from a third party. It is also part of the segmentation of the operation. So they're now saying all technology and VR kinds of stuff will now not be under the Gender group, but will be under one of their subdivisions, which is uh the Dynamo uh amusement side. Um I would be interested to know how the Western uh amusement trade is going to explain to its membership in a few months' time why they have not commented on this situation more uh and why uh they have been, shall we say, uh retiring in uh reviewing what is going on. Uh it it's it's weird. The Stinger Report doesn't sound off, seem to be one of the few uh places where you can actually uh know about what's going on here. Uh this is sort of the canary in the coal mine. I'm not saying it's a bad thing for the industry, not at all, but it is an interesting thing that I would have thought warranted a little bit more interest from our sector, and uh be prepared for a couple more announcements from Gender in the next sound off. Jumping on, and uh a personal favorite of both of ours, uh the friends at Phantom Peak have flex their muscle. If you're not familiar with Phantom Peak in London, it is uh an active mission room uh and social experience venue, very highly themed, very uh uh very developed on their British IP uh and their approach to the entertainment market, and has made a lot of friends uh and a lot of loyal visitors over the years. Well, Phantom Peak has been able to uh raise additional capital, and they're now going to be opening up a second venue uh in the Westfield Stratford City location, uh one that we touched upon in a sound off last year. This will be again an indoor themed experience with some uh social outdoor components to it. Again, it's very early days here, but it is nice to see that uh the brand is growing.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

I'm very happy for them. And uh I mean they've they've they have an in uh an amazing initial product, and I know for many years they've wanted to expand to the US. Uh, that has proven difficult for them to secure the capital to do that, but I'm glad to hear though that they are still pursuing growth. It is a it is a resource-intensive model, uh, given the number of staff or cast members that they have throughout the facility. Quality quality, yes, exactly, exactly. And the fact that they they create new seasons, right? So it it refreshes on a consistent regular basis so that the experience remains fresh, and which is why they've driven such strong loyalty from those who do come for repeat visitation, because the story continually evolves.

Competitive Socializing Investment Trends<br>

SPEAKER_02 26:13

The only time I've seen loyalty from guests to this level are usually from the big theme parks. It reminded me of my Disney time, uh, or especially uh viewing the universal um supporters, and to achieve that with a British IP and British cast members is uh you know something that needs to be lauded. Uh, my my concern was that they needed to find the right mix to avoid the Meow Wolf situation where you dilute your popularity too much with your audience. That said, um I would call uh Phantom Peak uh the UK Meowwolf, uh, and I hope that they will achieve the penetration and financial rewards that that will bring. Moving on, and uh the investment community uh is looking very heavy at putting more and more investment behind proven or established or emerging uh competitive socializing venues. Uh we I haven't been to a rumble room yet. Um I'm looking forward to seeing what makes this stand out from the uh the battle bars and the uh uh the electric shuffles of the world. Um, but again, uh a proven investment uh operation is now going to put their muscle behind this uh and drive this as an asset towards rollout uh both in the UK and internationally. So again, we're kind of seeing where the community is going towards growing uh the competitive socializing model.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, we touched on Rumble Rooms, I believe, when they first announced their original opening of Milton Keynes. Um, I was right the first time. Uh second guess myself. Um and uh yeah, they're they're sort of like a I feel like a rougher around the edges electric shuffle. Like the their overall style and theming is a little bit more industrial. Um and uh yeah, but that's about it. They're basically a a diverse bit of a socializing environment, and it's not super compelling on its own.

Atari Hotels Reality Check And IP Use<br>

SPEAKER_02 28:35

It's it's the beginning of a brand, uh, and that brand I'm sure has uh greater aspirations, and now that the piggy bank has been broken open, uh they will be able to define that brand. But it is a very competitive market at the moment, and uh they're gonna have to move fast and break things. We touched upon this in uh Open and Shutter a few days ago. It's a it's our told you so moment. We shook the tree to try and find out more information about what of the claimed Atari venues were still viable. Uh, once we shook the tree, we suddenly found out that uh the claims that a Las Vegas facility in the Atari Hotel aspirations was a pipe dream uh and has been removed or exercised from their uh their lineup. You know, they promised in 2020 that they were going to be opening at least 30 facilities within the first five years. Obviously, uh the COVID excuse, uh the dog at my homework uh will uh suffice why they haven't opened up yet, though I would argue now they they have to prove themselves, and that's maybe the reason why we heard about the Phoenix uh venue getting funding, though again details on that were scarce, and even our friends at Atari uh were a little bit closed mouth about the exact details, but we can now confirm that the plans for a Las Vegas facility, the first flagship site of the original announcement, is not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

Yeah. The one in Phoenix, I'm still skeptical will happen. It it it has not um they have not raised all of their funds yet. So they have raised some, um, but they made their announcement to basically uh I think garner additional interest to pursue the remaining investment. And so uh I'm still very skeptical that this will uh end up even surfacing in Phoenix.

Airports As Arcades: Good Or Bad Idea?<br>

SPEAKER_02 30:33

The original renderings that we used for the Las Vegas facility painted a site that was going to be fully themed and populated with the latest uh attractions based upon a very strong IP. The Phoenix renderings were lackluster to say the least, in my opinion. Um, and again, if you haven't raised all your money and showing those type of imageries, then you know you're not going to set the world on fire. Uh, as an ex uh uh Atarian, uh, individual that worked for Atari, even though it was the acquisition of Atari's brand, it is clear that you know this is a property that's still an IP, that still has a lot of transmedia interest to use that uh colloquial term. That said, we are now seeing the IP being raided in the location-based entertainment sector. Our friends at Pixel Games uh revealed the uh use of uh Atari classic video game IP in uh their new floor, interactive floor products. Uh, you know, and our friends at Alan Wan have uh launched uh the latest interpretation of the Pong uh physical uh amusement and home gaming system. So we know the Atari brand is strong, it's just it needs to be in the right hands for it to succeed on this level of uh hospitality and entertainment. Moving on, and uh if you run a Boston arcade, you woke up to the news that you had brand new competition. Uh and who would have thought that you would be competing with the Logan International Airport? Well, uh, under the current situations in the US, we've seen a lot of delays, a lot of cancellations of flights, a lot of people milling around looking for something to do. And if they're milling around looking for something to do, why not drop a couple of free play arcade classic machines in the terminals? Okay, um, a number of the terminals will receive these classic machines. I don't know where they've sourced them from, from the uh uh photos uh that I was looking at in the media. Uh they look quite good conditioned uh machines, and usually those type of mint machines find themselves in a retro arcade lounge or bar. Either way, the Logan arcade um has opened up uh and three of their terminals and their baggage area uh is populated with these machines on free play. I can't see any attendance nearby, and so I'm now taking bets on how long those machines last before they are rubble in the corner. Uh yeah. The first thing that will get stuck on the glass uh after they've been etched, scratched, spray painted, uh tagged, re-tagged, uh, and all of their components unscrewed and taken away through the TSA uh check-in. I just feel that this is a problem that could have had a better solution. Um that said, our friends at uh Chuck E. Cheese uh in a number of locations near major airports are offering um free and discounted entry for families that are impacted by delays and cancellations. So that's one approach. But maybe dropping free arcade machines into uh public spaces is uh management team showing their age, uh maybe harping back to their uh childhood in the uh in the glorious mall arcade rather than seriously thinking about entertainment as a means to deal with a uh turbulent audience.

SPEAKER_00 34:22

If this is just meant to be temporary, then okay, because these machines will get beat to shit. Um this these will this is not a long-term sustainable solution. Um, but you know, look, if it makes a few people happy and and less angry at the airlines and at their situation, and they're comfortable with the investment and uh you know burning, basically burning money uh over the next six months while these things uh all slowly fail to work, then I think it's a it's a fine it's a totally fine thing.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

For me personally, this is a social experiment. And I, you know, I turn to our audience that anyone that's passing through uh Boston Logan, could you just find, you know, walk up to uh where these machines are clustered and take a couple of photos for us? Because I would like to start taking bets upon how long before all of those machines are broken and what levels of failure we're going to see. Uh and I'm also questioning whether uh Boston Logan has a relationship with an arcade distributor or repair agent on. Is that poor guy going to have to turn up every day and walk through the three terminals and the baggage claim, keeping an eye on which machines are operational? I don't think so. I think if we're lucky, it's going to be once a week, if if not once a month. So we we've got a uh this is a social experiment uh that is being funded by the uh uh the populace of Boston for me. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

Indeed. Indeed. All right, well, coming up after the quick break, we'll uh we'll we'll die. We'll we'll keep rolling. We'll just keep rolling. However, your game floor with arcades by Allen One, whether it's perfectly forty dreams in Dr. Pepper's Dodus Land, having official bite something's flashbacks, or defending cities from attack and missile command reach cards. Alan One has something for every venue in arcade floor that will delight your guests. Each game is also enhanced laterally easy for it. Free app that attracts player top scores and brings guests back to your venue for more. Visit Allendax1.com to learn more. That's Alan Dash One.com.

Virtuix Omni And Nasdaq Leap<br>

SPEAKER_02 36:36

And I'm not here to tell the Logan uh management team their business, but those are the type of machines linked to maybe tournament play that I think they should have considered. But that's just a personal opinion from a consultant with over 40 years' experience in the market. Anyway, moving on to the uh tech trends, and one of the technologies of the VR sector that we uh uh covered right at the beginning, 10 years ago, funny enough, was uh the development of the omnidirectional treadmill as an interface for you to move through the virtual reality experience. Our friends at Vertrix were one of those smart companies that uh understood the possibility of using the location-based entertainment market as kind of a launch ground and promotional tool for their platform uh that would then also help the sale of their consumer system. And they have seen the benefits of that. That said, uh they have about 80 venues still rocking uh their uh Omni Arena system, though we haven't really seen them push uh the location-based side of their business uh for the last four years to be uh generous to them. They have focused on developing their consumer application, their home uh platform, and the uh the Omni One, the latest uh iteration of that, has found favor with the VR market. And so the company is in a position now to go to the markets, and they've thrown themselves on the Nasdaq. And we wish them a lot of luck with that. I am in communication with the company regarding what their future plans are in location-based entertainment, and I hope after Purda that we'll be able to go into a little bit more detail about that.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Yeah, I've known Jan for many, many years and uh just very, very uh happy for them. Uh obviously making the pivot into consumer uh the the consumer omni one was uh done through Kickstarter originally. And so uh pretty cool to see where they've come since the uh the original Kickstarter for the Omni One and now uh and now being listed on the Nasdaq. And so congrats to Jan and the team and all the work that they've done over the years to get there.

Edutainment Immersives And School Trips<br>

SPEAKER_02 38:50

You know, if you look at it in comparison to how we started uh this uh sound off talking about Meta's approach, a company that built more walls to block uh the application for technology and location-based entertainment than embraced, and then you look at uh what uh our friends at Vertrix have achieved, you can kind of understand why we were skeptical of uh the the approach that some corporations took. Uh the successes are obvious if you get it right. But it's early days as well, we need to be clear. So, you know, it is a rough ride jumping into the the choppy waters of Nasdaq. We touched upon this uh a couple of days ago in Open and Shut, uh an immersive experience. So we put this in the same boat uh as uh the Pompeii experience, or we put this in the uh the same kiln as uh our friends with the War of the Worlds experience, multiple areas for groups or audiences to migrate through. Some of them use the latest projection map and uh LED screen technology to pass on the narrative, some of them use virtual reality headsets to immerse the individuals in the world. It is what I would call edutainment. Uh recently I've been doing some research into the educational application of XR technology, and I would call this kind of a virtual field trip uh kind of experience with multi-layers. This is a night uh 90-minute experience that you pay a single ticket for and go through. Uh, and I would expect it would have certain levels of repeatability. You know, you can't get it all in in one go. It is a unique tourist experience, and it also has uh the ability to be used as a virtual field trip for schools and educationals. So again, feverish, uh, as we uh discussed uh in open and sharp, but also an example of what we can expect to see from a number of other shared reality immersive experiences that can utilize available spaces.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

Absolutely. And I think one of the things that they've done well as far as creating this quote-unquote walk through immersive experience is that they've really integrated some physicality, some physical components to each of the rooms as well. It's not just sit on a bench and look at walls moving around or the floor moving around. Um, you are able to interact with some of the uh things in the space. And so I think that's important, you know, having that uh you know, if if we're talking about entertainment, it really needs to be uh a mixture of visual, oral, and textile uh approaches. And so they've I feel it looks like they're at least moving in that direction. And then, you know, I think if they're not considering, because you mentioned the school trip, uh field trip uh approach to group bookings and group sales to fill the morning time slots and early afternoon time slots, then they're missing a big opportunity.

Toca Social Pop-Ups And World Cup Tailwinds<br>

SPEAKER_02 41:58

They're not, they they are they are positioning themselves. All uh immersive uh experiences that I'm you know I speak to and deal with are all thinking about the edutainment component, and that is from just the narrative being informative to the audience to attracting an educational level. Um, there's also other aspects about this being a digital heavy experience, which means it can be updated and various versions as along with seasonality can be added to this. It is a compelling narrative, uh, and I look forward to the team behind this rolling this out uh across uh a number of other locations. Moving on, and a little bit of information from the EAG coverage, which I couldn't go into at the time. Our friends at Tocker Social, along with working very hard on the uh opening of their site, uh which I think is their first American uh location. The uh company has also revealed that they will be developing a pop-up uh small-scale simulator booth version of this. Very similar to what we've seen with uh home run dugouts uh that they developed uh for deployment in Stadia, as well as a um, you know, a secondary entertainment installation rather than just being focused on a dedicated standalone facility business model. They are now pivoting or embracing the opportunities that they bring to the table. I was able to speak with the uh the team behind Tokosocial, and it is clear that they have a very focused rollout schedule for uh their facilities. They've sort of sat on their laurels for too long, in my opinion, uh trying to work out what they are and what they are not, and now that they are kind of taking lessons from the industry around them, and they're trying to play the game of catch up to install this. That said, the team at Toca Four. Football are very smart bunnies and they have a lot of knowledge of applying their technology in the training and sports sector. And social entertainment is just a new market that they will put their energies into.

SPEAKER_00 44:16

This is a I think a savvy move for them. I think this will at least, if anything, get more exposure to the Tokyo Social brand, but also hopefully just generate some revenue for them in gameplay. And if we're talking about just the US alone, there are 27 major league soccer stadiums located throughout the U.S. that I could see these pop-ups either going in some of the parking lots or in the certain areas or in dedicated sections within the stadiums. There's a number of ways that they could do this. And actually, 11 of those stadiums have been designated to host matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. And so, you know, again, good timing to be developing a mobile sports bay that's focused on football that you can then drop into those stadiums.

SPEAKER_02 45:02

A trend I'm seeing is sport tame and platforms being utilized as companion marketing and promotional and revenue generators next door to major events. We have the Winter Olympics coming up, and there's some information I have regarding that. There's uh obviously the FIFA World Cup and the opportunities of having this kind of thing, and then there's the usual um you know uh conventional uh championship playoffs for uh basketball and baseball that can also benefit from uh their own uh shootout or their own home run dugout uh installation. This is going to be a component of transmedia sports. You're gonna be sick of that term transmedia by the end of this year, I think. Some clarification. Uh our friends at Shuffley uh beat me up and said that uh it is their uh table that is going into the Grand Chauffe uh in France. Uh and it should have been bleeding obvious, but uh anyway, uh I thank them for the clarification. Um, and again, we have some transparency to the plans of the Grand Shuffle, and I think Shufflee is a fantastic partner to have if uh they are able to achieve their rollout aspirations.

SPEAKER_00 46:25

I mean, so I'm glad we were able to make this clarification. Um, you know, obviously Shufflee has uh a great platform um in the sense that they uh they they have everything from regular shuffleboard to then adding on, they have like sort of like a modular platform to their system. Um that being said, the one thing that threw me off that didn't look like, and maybe it's just because of the concept imagery here that's that that brand shuffle put out, um, but it was the screen. The screen form factor is not shuffley screen form factor. So um, while and maybe it should have been quote unquote obvious, I give ourselves a little bit of a pass given the fact that um you know the screen form factor is typically a horizontal screen mounted on a pole right at the end of the table versus this like really flush, sleek looking screen that's in this uh concept imagery presented by the Grand Shuffle.

Shuffleboard Clarifications And Launches<br>

Amusement Expo Talk: Social Entertainment’s Impact<br>

SPEAKER_02 47:12

We we should have guessed that this concept art, uh the poor artist uh maybe drove past in a fast car uh the design of a shuffle board before he uh had to put the artwork together. No one plays shuffleboard like that, and those terminals on the counter look a little bit anyway. We now have clarified the situation. We look forward to actual photographs of the facility uh now that it's about to throw its doors open. Some clarification in another direction. So I've uh alluded to over the last sound offs that uh I will be presenting at Amusement Expo and my slot position and uh details of what I'll be actually talking about and now public knowledge. So the embargo has lifted off of me at least. Uh, I'd like to first extend the thanks to the uh team at uh Amusement Expo International for the opportunity to do this. It is important, not just for my ego, but I think for the industry, that we touch upon the impact that competitive socializing has to the uh the amusement trade, especially in North America. We haven't talked about this, it's been kind of uh uh a uh a known unknown, as it were. Certain of uh the older uh corporations feel uncomfortable about new unknowns, and so they usually push them into the long grass. We'll we're now uh taking taking the bull by the horn to use every metaphor I can get my hands on at this moment in time. And so the social entertainment, amusement, uh, amusement, competitive edge session will be taking place on the Tuesday, the second day of the educational sessions. Uh I will go into a little bit more detail in coming sound-offs about really where I'm going to take this. This is not going to be a mic drop moment, but it is going to be a come to Jesus moment for the amusement trade. I'm not going to hold back many punches about what are the dangers and what are the opportunities regarding social entertainment. Um, if I'm blunt, uh, I could be doing this presentation at Amusement Expo, or I could have been doing this presentation across the road at uh the restaurant and nightclub bar. Those two areas are going to converge, and we're going to have to, uh, as I've already said, grab that bull and make sure that we're in a position to survive, or that bull will trample all over us. And um, if you look at the coming coverage in the entertainment social arena uh in a couple of days' time, you will see how much of the EAG London amusement show had a reference to uh competitive socializing that scared, concerned the amusement trade, the traditional amusement trade of how much this industry is eating their cheddar off their table. And as a person that helped start the uh uh the competitive socializing elements to that show, it is an honor to be allowed by the American trade to bring this cuckoo to the nest uh for the amusement industry.

SPEAKER_00 50:26

Looking forward to uh sitting in the session and uh and uh and and hearing all the wisdom.

SPEAKER_02 50:32

Watching me getting bottled off the stage, I think. It'll be an interesting one, and I hope the firearms are kept to a minimum. Uh that said, we're also uh pushing the uh location-based entertainment uh XR component uh within the uh auspices of the uh augmented world expo that's taking place in June. Uh again, this allows uh an industry that has a major part to play in uh all of our industries uh a chance to shine. And again, I'll be trying to go into a little bit more detail about the uh initial exhibitors and what we're trying to do with our education and conference sessions there. But it is mindful that you have to be in it to win it. And if this isn't on your radar and you're in the LBX, uh I keep on calling it the LBX, but in the location-based XR arena, and you don't have a place there if you're not speaking there, or if you're not just attending, then you only have yourselves to blame if you miss out on the valuable information and opportunities that will take place there. Anyway, that winds up uh this particular sound off. Uh again, thank you to those that contacted me to correct uh previous sound-offs or to pass on information through the LinkedIn as well as through our email. We have more uh stinger reports out there. Sorry for the delay, but we're catching up and there's a whole splurge of them about to hit. We also have uh some entertainment social arenas splurging upon us, and we even have some uh information from the uh virtual arena that will permeate uh our archive. But anyway, if you have any questions, if you need more information, there are the details. Well, Brandon, I hope I haven't put you to sleep.

SPEAKER_00 52:29

No, not at all, not at all. Uh all right, it was a great sound off, and we will see you for number one hundred nine next week.

SPEAKER_02 52:37

Have a good one.