The VR Arcade Game Summit is coming up next week in Las Vegas. It’s part of the Amusement Expo education program, which at $120 is the bargain of the century.

If you’re coming to Las Vegas next week for the VR Summit, make sure you stay for Amusement Expo, where we will have the first ever Free Roam Pavilion.

Free roam VR is the ultimate application of virtual reality. It reminds me of the early days of laser tag, when players were just blown away by the immersion, excitement, and competitiveness. Over the next several years I predict VR will supplant laser tag in the family entertainment center industry. But for now, anyone with between 250 and 1000 square feet can offer experiences from 4-8 players that only a few years ago were the subject of sci-fi movies. 

If you read my latest VR Buyer’s Guide, you know all about the do-it-yourself free roam VR movement. No longer beholden to a single supplier, operators now have unprecedented freedom to choose their headsets, peripherals, software and games, and arenas.

The free roam pavilion will showcase the latest innovations available in this exciting attraction category.

The VR Collective will be showcasing two new free roam arena kits built by Private Label VR. Designed to ship flat-pack for easy on-site DIY assembly, the new R.O.A.M arena scales from 16×16 up to 33×33 feet, and can be integrated with any software provider. Choose from a basic system or upgrade to include interactive lighting, sound, digital signage technology, and more.

Haptics is the best way to fully immerse your players in the game. Make sure that you check out the demos that support the Striker VR Mavrik Pro rifle and bHaptics vests. The Mavrik Pro is my favorite gun peripheral of all time. It’s supported by Headgun, Swarms, Tower Tag, and more. And the bHaptics TactSuit is the best way for players to fell the action, giving them the insight and feedback they need to level up their performance.

This year Amusement Expo is leveling up it’s cleanliness thanks to Cleanbox Technology, the exclusive hygiene partner of the Free Roam Pavilion. They generously donated the use of their UV-C powered CX1 Cleanboxes to all the exhibitors. You can feel safe and secure that your free roam experience will be 99.999% germ free.

Spree Interactive, the leading developer of free roam VR games for kids, will be showcasing their new software only program. Now operators can add Spree games to their free roam library to keep their youngest customers happy. Spree games are perfect for the 5-10 year old crowd and are the perfect strategy for upselling kid’s birthday parties to more expensive and profitable packages.

Tower Tag will also be showcasing their software only packages as part of the Synthesis VR arena. Tower Tag is the original VR esports game, played in hundreds of locations around the world. I first played it in 2017, and it’s still one of the best player vs player (PvP) games out there. It supports bHaptics and Striker VR.

Rabbit Hole VR will be on hand to answer any technical questions you have about deployment and installation. Offering a full range of services for new VR operators including Free Roam VR kits, Rabbit Hole can help operators who like the idea of DIY but want someone to hold their hands along the way.

Finally, World’s Beyond, an indie game developer building an epic Sci-Fi shooter will be on hand with some early demos. If you want to see what the latest Unreal Engine technology can do in a VR environment check out their booth to see the future.