Kingsmen Xperience, a creator of world-class location-based entertainment (LBE) experiences, continues expanding into the sector following success with popular brands such as Hasbro, Warner Bros. Discovery, and more. The company can provide various services in this space, including IP licensing and management, funding solutions, venue resources, project management, and operations management.
Observing the significant growth of online shopping versus traditional retail globally and the need for more experiential forms of entertainment through location-based entertainment, Kingsmen Xperience (KX) was formed in 2017 as a subsidiary of Kingsmen Creatives, which has 48 years of experience creating memorable experiences and has been recognised with over 100 international awards. This move leveraged the company’s proficiency in experiential attraction design and development to expand into the growing location-based entertainment industry.
Kingsmen Xperience is led by Corey Redmond, who brought extensive expertise in IP licensing & management and commercial real estate to execute the strategy that he, Benedict Soh (executive chairman, Kingsmen Creative), Andrew Cheng (CEO, Kingsmen Creatives) and Anthony Chong (group managing director at Kingsmen Exhibits) envisioned.
Nerf, Animal Planet and more
The company’s first IP-based LBE project was the world’s first Nerf Action Xperience, which opened in October 2019 at Marina Square, Singapore. This 18,000-square-foot Nerf-themed arena featured family-friendly activity zones and private event spaces. It was created by Kingsmen Creatives in partnership with toy manufacturer Hasbro. Since then, the indoor active play concept has expanded to the US, with new venues set to open this summer at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey and early 2025 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Kingsmen Xperience’s exclusive North American and Asia-Pacific licenses with Hasbro for permanent Nerf Action Xperiences also includes the original permanent family entertainment centre (FEC) concept Planet Playskool, which features the iconic toys and games, Play-Doh, Transformers, PJ Masks, Mouse Trap, Spirograph and Tinkertoy. The first Planet Playskool FEC will soon open in the US at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, and the first Nerf FEC in China is expected to open in 2026.
In addition, the firm has an exclusive global license with Warner Bros. Discovery for an Animal Planet travelling exhibit, an exclusive global license with Crayola to work on a soon-to-be-announced creative and immersive adult attraction, and an exclusive Asia-Pacific and Middle East North Africa license for Space Explorers: The Infinite. The first Space Explorers: The Infinite venue will open in Singapore in October 2024.
Kingsmen Xperience is uniquely positioned to bring IP to life in LBE
Kingsmen has worked with world-renowned attraction brands such as Universal and Disney, and it is poised for success in the IP-based LBE sector due to a combination of the KX team’s long-standing relationships with global brands and major studios and Kingsmen’s stellar and long-standing reputation in design and build. Kingsmen is horizontally and vertically integrated; therefore, it can deliver all aspects of a world-class attraction, from ideation to implementation.
The company is following current trends, starting with a focus on the FEC/families with kids segment and moving to a strategy of targeting young adult experiences.
Kingsmen Xperience looks at the full landscape of brands, IP, new technology and other ideas to find and deliver the best-in-class location-based entertainment concepts. This led it to the Space Explorers extended reality (XR) experience, which it knew would be a game-changer for the general public to experience what it is like to be in space and witness everything the amazing international astronauts have to endure and experience.
Space Explorers: The Infinite
Space Explorers: The Infinite is a 60-minute immersive and interactive experience inspired by NASA missions and designed as a touring exhibition. The central theme is outer space, and it features new and exclusive content from the most ambitious new media project ever conducted in outer space: Space Explorers: the ISS Experience by Felix & Paul Studios, in association with TIME and in partnership with NASA and the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory.
This project consists of more than 200 hours of 3D-360° immersive content filmed onboard the ISS, more than 16 hours of astronaut testimonials, and the first-ever spacewalk ever filmed in virtual reality. The recordings form the basis for the immersive story and narrative of Space Explorers: The Infinite.
Looking ahead
Looking to the future, the firm will continue to look for new IP partners and to develop its own original IP, says Redmond:
“In the business of location-based entertainment, having good partners is essential because so much of the work is collaborative. KX takes a long-term approach to all of its partnerships, especially with the IP owners, and likes to work with partners who have integrity and will be supportive of the projects (above and beyond just licensing, marketing, ticketing, production, etc.).
“We have been, and will continue to be, active in looking for the best strategic partners we can collaborate with globally.”
