Canada/USA: Cineplex Inc. & VRstudios Announce Strategic Partnership
Cineplex Inc., a leading entertainment company with headquarters in Toronto/Canada, and Seattle/Washington-based VRstudios Inc., provider of turnkey, location-based Virtual Reality (VR) solutions, have recently announced their strategic partnership, including a commercial partnership and an investment by Cineplex to acquire an ownership interest in VRstudios. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Founded in 2014 in Bellevue/Washington, VRstudios has been specializing in the development and installation of location-based VR solutions in the form of free-roaming multiple-player arenas. Thanks to the cooperation with Cineplex, VRstudios now sees new installation opportunities at existing Cineplex-owned properties, including its theatre and location-based entertainment network. The agreement also provides both companies with broader expansion opportunities in North America and around the globe.
With more than 65 systems supplied to customers in 15 countries, plus another 120 commercial VR attractions powered by its AMP management software, VRstudios is one of the leading providers in its field. The area required for its VR arenas ranges from around ten square meters (100 square feet) for smaller installations up to large-scale attractions covering more than 220 square meters (2,400 square feet).
At The Rec Room entertainment and gaming center in South Edmonton/Alberta, Cineplex has recently installed a VRstudios attraction – in addition, Cineplex plans to open up to 40 VRstudios locations across its theatre and location-based entertainment network in Canada by the end of 2021. Thus, Cineplex is further expanding its market share in the field of stationary VR experiences, after the entertainment company had already announced its cooperation with The VOID, provider of hyper-reality experiences, earlier this summer to open a number of The VOID Experience centers in Canada (cf. EAP news from July 17th, 2018).
This week, Cineplex has also announced the renewal cooperation with South Korea’s CJ 4DPLEX company, which is specialized in the construction and operation of 4D cinemas. According to the agreement, CJ 4DPLEX will add motion-based seats and special effects to a total of 13 Cineplex movie theatres throughout Canada over the next years, to create a fully-immersive 4D movie experience. (eap)
