Author: Anton Zaitsev / Source: VentureBeat
Do most average consumers understand virtual reality? No. Will they want to try it without that understanding? No. Can a VR arcade get a lot of customers by advertising VR on its own? No.
Despite all of this, a VR arcade can gain traction.
Let’s learn how.1. VR isn’t selling itself
VR arcades are said to play a leading role in the VR consumer market. Developers are switching their attention to the arcade market as well. Even Dave & Buster’s is opening VR arcades now.
A VR arcade seems like a dream business for geeks. A lot of young adults in different countries remember how they ate pizzas, drank Coke, and played video games in arcades, internet cafes, computer clubs, and so on. Now they can make it in virtual reality! The Matrix, Lawnmower Man, Tron, and now Ready Player One prepared them for this. Cyberpunk fantasy has come true.
Right?
The truth is that cyberpunk doesn’t have mass popularity — check Blade Runner 2049’s box office. Beyond that, too few are early adopters ready for VR.
But we know how to make it work. Since 2014 our company, Avatarico, has developed VR games for location-based entertainment, and we keep close contact with more than 70 clients running gaming centers across the globe. And I know for sure that marketing these arcades using the concept of VR alone is a failure.
If you are into new technologies, you might be into VR. If you buy every gimmick on the market, then you probably want to try VR.
But if you don’t, then the technology in and of itself is not an interest for you. There is a cinema, family entertainment center, escape room, a lot of things to have fun with. VR doesn’t sell itself. If you want to appeal to the mass audience, you need something else.How to get traction?
We have found that VR isn’t selling itself — certain experiences or games just aren’t appealing to some customers. But we want our VR arcade to be an entertainment center. We want families and corporate parties. We want to scale. We need traction. We need something that attracts people. If it’s not VR, then what it is?
Let’s see how other entertainment venues approach this problem. Movie theaters don’t promote the screen or the projector. That’s ridiculous. They promote movies. Still, based on our survey, a typical headline of a VR arcade’s ad is something like “The first VR arcade in the city!” A VR arcade should promote the experiences and games instead.
But does it sound inherently interesting to play “Job Simulator”? Or shoot a bow? Not really.
What games do people actually play?
OK, there isn’t as much choice in a new medium as there are with phone or console games, but what do the customers actually play at VR arcades?
Seventy-to-ninety percent of VR arcade customers are first-timers. They…
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