The VAR BOX was unveiled at the Amusement Expo International last year, and operators immediately saw its potential, awarding it the AMOA Innovator Award.

But it wasn’t just the game that caught the industry’s attention. The innovative esports features within the VAR BOX mobile app promise a transformational business model that could impact everything from FECs to bowling centers and even bars and taverns.

Supply chain disruptions hit the company hard. It took almost nine months for the first container of product to hit distribution warehouses in America. By the time the product arrived, significant engineering upgrades had been developed. Creative Works, the most experienced company in the States regarding virtual reality products, signed on to help with distribution in the US. Acting as the depot and master distributor in North America, they implemented the engineering changes and began shipping the product to operators in December.

With a solid installed base of VAR BOX units in FECs across the US, VAR BOX is kicking off its Esports program.

The first phase of the program, called the League of Colleagues (LoC), kicks off in April. The LoC is a global esports leaderboard tournament exclusively for employees of arcades featuring the VAR BOX.

The strategy behind the League of Colleagues is that employee engagement drives awareness and gameplay. If arcade employees are excited about a game, they will tell customers about it. VAR BOX isn’t just an arcade game but an entire esports platform. And the heart of the Esports program is the mobile app. The LoC gets employees to register on the app, play the games, and compete for prizes. And research suggests that a more engaged employee base will help drive customer engagement, app downloads, and tournament play.

Every time an employee plays Overkill on the VAR BOX, as long as they log in with the mobile app, they’re registered in the tournament. Each month prizes will be awarded to the top players globally, in the US, and at each location. Global and national prizes are provided by VAR BOX, while each site provides local rewards. There’s a dedicated website for the League of Colleagues where players can get registration instructions and check their standings.

Phase 2 of the VAR BOX tournament program will kick off once the League of Colleagues runs for a few months. Locations will be invited to join the global VAR BOX Overkill tournament, where the top scores worldwide win cash and prizes each month.

The top players from the League of Colleagues and the player tournament will be invited into the VAR BOX community management training program. This free program mentors the most passionate gamers to become community managers, organizing teams and building the VAR BOX community.

Once the local communities are forming, it’s time for locations to go pro with Phase 3 of the VAR BOX Esports program. The community managers organize local tournaments for players to come together and play live against each other. These site-level tournaments are where the community cements itself into the fabric of the location. Over the following months, the best teams in each area will be invited to regional tournaments, working their way up to an invitation to the Global Championship in Taiwan.