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Merlin Entertainments today announces a multi-million pound and multi-territory partnership with Immersive Gamebox, the immersive group gaming platform which brings families together through active shared play.
Immersive Gamebox, which currently operates 27 play locations in the UK, USA, Europe, and United Arab Emirates, is an interactive group gaming experience, combining motion tracking, projection mapping, touch screens and surround sound to deliver a 360-degree experience for groups of 2-6 players, of all ages and abilities, to enjoy together.
The partnership solidifies both companies’ commitment to delivering interactive, accessible play experiences for the entire family, underpinned by brand-driven storytelling and technological innovation.
Merlin and Immersive Gamebox will launch their global partnership with two initial Gamebox locations in Merlin's existing sites in Sydney, Australia and Oberhausen, Germany by the end of 2023. The collaboration sees huge potential for a significant roll out plan across the Merlin Estate over the coming years including the UK, US and APAC. Each Gamebox will host eight free-standing Gameboxes per location, each of which can accommodate 2-6 players per play session, and run games lasting between 30 and 120 minutes.
The partnership creates an exciting new platform for collaboration with Merlin’s leading IP and brand relationships including HASBRO’s Peppa Pig, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Jumanji, Ferrari and Cadbury, alongside its long-standing exclusive relationship with the LEGO® Group. Immersive Gamebox currently has a suite of iconic family-driven IP partnerships with leading entertainment studios, including: Paramount, with whom they created PAW Patrol: New Recruits, the world’s first immersive game for kids 3+, Rovio Entertainment where they produced the first-ever life-sized slingshot Angry Birds game; Aardman for Shaun the Sheep, and streaming giant Netflix where they created an immersive Squid Game based on the hit TV-show. IGB also recently announced a collaboration with Merlin’s long-time partner Sony Pictures Entertainment via Columbia Pictures Location Based Entertainment, on a new Ghostbusters game launching this Halloween. Immersive Gamebox also boasts an ‘IGB Original’ content library through its in-house game studio, with popular titles such as Temple of Coins, Tip Tap Memory Challenge, and for more mature audiences (14+), a new thrilling ‘AI Nightmare’ game coming in winter 2023.
The partnership with Immersive Gamebox further expands Merlin’s offering in Europe, US, UK, and ANZ, and supports the company’s wider strategy to create and build strong clusters of ‘Midway’ attractions (indoor city attractions in key tourism gateway hubs), replicating its existing success of creating entertainment clusters in cities including London, Berlin, Sydney, New York, Hong Kong, and other global tourism destinations. The new Immersive Gameboxes will sit alongside a range of attractions already present in the city clusters which cater for every age.
Merlin’s Midway attractions include Peppa Pig World of Play, LEGOLAND and LEGO Discovery Centres, Madame Tussauds, the Dungeons and SEA LIFE aquariums, as well as iconic and unique destinations such as the Sydney Tower Eye and lastminute.com London Eye.
“Will Dean is an extraordinary entrepreneur who has masterfully built a world-class team, developed cutting-edge technology and partnered with iconic IP, making Immersive Gamebox the perfect complement in our build out of our clusters around the world. Immersive Gamebox provides a prudent business model and an immersive ‘come together - play together’ experience that is second to none. This new, exciting chapter with Immersive Gamebox is being executed with the hope that with success will come a deeper rollout throughout our global estate.”
Scott O'Neil, CEO of Merlin Entertainments“We are committed to bringing our audience the very best partnerships which enable us to create one-of-a-kind immersive games they’ll love anywhere in the world. Our company's purpose is to bring people together through technology-enabled shared play, and we are bringing these games to more people than ever before and revolutionising how fans interact with entertainment through this partnership with Merlin Entertainments. Given Merlin’s position as a global leader in location-based attractions combined with their track record of scaling across markets, the agreement also supports further expansion of Gameboxes globally.”
Will Dean, CEO and Co-Founder at Immersive GameboxImmersive Gamebox Continues Rapid Growth
Immersive Gamebox has built a proprietary technology platform that drives fully immersive, multi-sensory experiences that is loved by players worldwide, with over 24,500 5-star customer reviews. They have 13+ games from the IGB in-house gaming studio and household name IPs in partnership with globally recognised entertainment studios such as Rovio Entertainment, Aardman Animations, Netflix, and Paramount. Immersive Gamebox has seen 31% in customer repeat rate, with same store revenue at 101% YoY and total revenue up by 337% YoY. The company is selling 1,500 Gameboxes to franchise + concession partners this year and is projected to have a total of 100 venues open in the next 12 months.
About Immersive Gamebox
Immersive Gamebox (IGB) is building the world’s first immersive entertainment platform to unite people through shared play. The Gameboxes feature a range of cutting-edge technologies such as projection mapping, touch screens using our patented ‘Lidar’, 3D motion tracking, and surround sound to deliver an entirely new form of immersive entertainment without any bulky headsets. Teams of 2-6 play 30–60-minute games featuring levels and challenges designed to be fun, social, and collaborative. Co-founded by CEO Will Dean and CFO David Spindler in 2018, Immersive Gamebox currently has 26 locations across the UK, US and EMEA with more to come. Designed by the company’s in-house game studio, Immersive Gamebox has over 13 intuitive games available to choose from. IGB was awarded “Travelers’ Choice”on TripAdvisor for two consecutive years for their deliverance of unparalleled entertainment experiences. For more information, and to purchase tickets to Immersive Gamebox, please visit immersivegamebox.com.
