Bob Cooney sits down with Alex Rossol, co-founder of vrCAVE, the world’s leading provider of VR escape rooms. They discuss the company’s origin, product pivots, design philosophy, hardware strategies, and future outlook for location-based VR entertainment.

Key Highlights

• 00:00:09 – 00:02:05 | Introduction & Origin Story
  • Bob introduces Alex and vrCAVE’s mission to achieve scale in VR entertainment.
  • Alex Rossol recounts the 2015–16 spark: experimenting with Oculus Rift DK2, forming the startup, and choosing entertainment as the entry point.
• 00:02:05 – 00:04:00 | First MVP & Seasonal Pivot
  • “Hospital of Horror” two-player haunted house demo (Halloween 2016) using HTC Vive backpacks.
  • Zero winter interest prompts pivot from seasonal to year-round: birth of VR escape rooms (July 2017).
• 00:04:00 – 00:06:00 | Building the Escape Room Lineup
  • Launch of Escape from Space Station Tiberius and subsequent seasonal themes: underwater “Depth of a Dive,” “Dragon Tower,” etc.
  • Early experiment “Laser Bots” (non-escape game) taught vrCAVE to focus on its core escape-room niche.
• 00:06:00 – 00:09:00 | Customer Feedback & Playtesting
  • Dual-sided market: gather operator pain points and player reactions.
  • Regular global partner testing; “when you’re 90% there, you’re only halfway done” on polish.
• 00:09:00 – 00:13:00 | Experience Length, Throughput & Comfort
  • Standard session: 45–60 minutes; adaptable to 15/30 min for high throughput.
  • Importance of varied puzzles, climax, and VR sickness mitigation (frame-rate, movement design).
• 00:13:00 – 00:18:00 | Team, Content Library & Hit Distribution
  • 22 full-time staff, majority in development.
  • Library of 11 experiences (including early prototypes); “Manor of Escape” emerges as top performer, but overall library sees a flatter usage curve than typical 80/20.
• 00:18:00 – 00:22:00 | Territory Exclusivity & Partner Model
  • Exclusive regions (~300 K population) provided to operators to secure their marketing investment.
  • Treating customers as partners; wins inspired by Apple’s closed-ecosystem approach.
• 00:22:00 – 00:27:00 | Hardware Agnosticism & Headset Strategy
  • Early use of PC-streamed VR backpacks; trialed Oculus Quest 1 in 2019.
  • Cost drop from ~$30 K backpack rigs to $5–8 K standalone headsets; transition to pay-per-player models.
  • Current support: Meta Quest, HTC Vive Focus 3, Pico; keen eye on future streaming resurgence.
• 00:27:00 – 00:34:00 | Headset Calibration & Industry Moves
  • Quest calibration challenges: balancing tracking, spatial anchors, and performance.
  • Reflections on HTC’s Android XR deal with Google and what a more open platform could mean for the industry.
• 00:34:00 – 00:38:00 | Future Roadmap & Adjacent Markets
  • Upcoming releases: Alien Infection (launched this week on all standalone headsets); new PC VR port later this year.
  • Exploring haptics, modular play spaces, mixed reality, hospitality integrations, and potential IP partnerships.
  • Top 5 ways VR delivers 10× value over traditional escape rooms:
    1. Lower entry cost & rapid content updates
    2. Unbounded creativity (zero-gravity, underwater, dragons)
    3. Higher replayability without physical rebuilds
    4. Scalable operations (one arena, multiple yearly themes)
    5. Enhanced safety & comfort through design and rigorous testing
• 00:38:00 – 00:41:00 | Founder Lessons & Advice
  • “Everything takes twice as long and twice as expensive as you expect.”
  • Sales & marketing are half the battle—invest heavily in reviews, promotions, and retention tactics.
• 00:41:00 – 00:47:00 | Serialization & Closing Thoughts
  • Pros/cons of sequels vs. standalone stories; careful not to lock out new players.
  • Final words: contact vrCAVE at vr@cave.io; stay tuned for upcoming operator interviews on VRCollective.com.

🎧Notable Quotes

“When you’re 90% of the way there, you’re about halfway done.”
— Alex Rossol on the importance of polish (00:09:31)

“If everyone’s your customer, then no one’s your customer.”
— Alex Rossol on the power of territory exclusivity (00:23:52)

“Everything takes twice as long and twice as expensive as you expect.”
— Alex Rossol’s founder’s truth (00:40:40)