September 18, 2020 – VRStudios, a provider of commercial virtual reality (VR) systems, technology, and integrated VR attractions, built expressly for the location-based entertainment (LBE) enterprise, has this week announced the launch of its ‘VRStudios Sports’ platform.
The company stated that the platform “Redraws the boundaries of virtual reality gaming for the new normal in Location-Based Entertainment” by linking players’ in-home VR gameplay with their social, competitive, premium experiences at out-of-home amusement venues such as family entertainment centers (FECs).
VRstudios CEO, Kevin Vitale, said: “While we care deeply about the impact of COVID-19 to the people and businesses in our industry, 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. 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 facility. It redraws the traditional boundaries as ‘Home’ becomes a new extended LBE location and VR adds a whole new dimension to eSports.”
VRStudios Sports features competitive VR sports games, along with the company’s new ‘Attraction Management Platform’ (AMP) Player Portal for tracking scores, leaderboards, and persistent profiles for play at home or at a LBE venue, according to the company.
VRStudios Sports’ first title, ‘Hoops Madness’, delivers a VR basketball experience with realistic shooting and ball-handling, where players can move up a leaderboard that ranks both their at home performance, as well as performance at LBE venues. Players can practise solo or connect with other users to compete online in multiplayer matches for up to 8-players in a VR arena setting. Hoops Madness is available now in Early Access on Steam and on all VRStudios’ ATOM and FLEX systems at LBE venues.
As noted above, VRStudios has also expanded its Attraction Management Platform with the development of the new ‘Player Portal’, which allows players to create persistent profiles that follow them wherever they are playing, tracking scores, ranking performance on global leaderboards, and enabling participation in competitions. Furthermore, the company’s AMP Player Portal will provide FECs with the opportunity to build communities of new fans and customers, according to VRstudios VP of marketing, Yoni Koenig.
The company added that instead of competing with in-home entertainment, FEC operators now have new options for building awareness with new audiences, maintaining a connection to players at home, promoting events, and driving in-store revenue.
Additionally, VRstudios stated that it will also be introducing a new attraction that it calls the FURY Sports Booth, which will consist of an unattended VR attraction designed to reduce the cost of operations for an FEC while inviting guests into VRStudios Sports gameplay. The single-player modular system can be networked with other FURY units and will be complementary to the VRstudios ATOM and FLEX multi-player attractions.
VRStudios also noted its vision for a connected ecosystem that spans both home and LBE will involve its patent-pending BYO-VR technology solution, which the company states will allow players and spectators to securely bring their own VR/AR devices to their FEC for experience engagement, personalization and hygiene, while also reducing the cost of entry and operations for LBE operators – something that the company hopes could redefine how players and spectators engage in LBE virtual reality experiences.
For more information on VRStudios, please visit the company’s website.
Image credit: VRStudios / Steam
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Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.