Merlin Entertainments and Immersive Gamebox have announced a multi-million pound and multi-territory partnership. The deal will kick off with two venues in Australia and Germany in 2023, with more to be confirmed at other Merlin Entertainments locations over the next five years across the UK, US and APAC.
Here, in an exclusive interview with Merlin Entertainment’s CEO, Scott O’Neil and Will Dean, CEO and Co-Founder at Immersive Gamebox, we learn more about how the relationship came about and why the “technology shared play product s “extraordinary”.
Immersive Gamebox, uses motion tracking, projection mapping, surround sound and touch screens to create an immersive group gaming experience, leveraging well known IPs such as Squid Game and PAW Patrol. The company currently has 27 locations in the UK, US, Europe, and UAE.
In a statement announcing the partnership, Scott O’Neil, Merlin’s CEO said, “Will Dean is an extraordinary entrepreneur who has masterfully built a world-class team, developed cutting-edge technology and partnered with iconic IP, making Immersive Gamebox the perfect complement in our build out of our clusters around the world.
“Immersive Gamebox provides a prudent business model and an immersive ‘come together – play together’ experience that is second to none. This new, exciting chapter with Immersive Gamebox is being executed with the hope that with success will come a deeper rollout throughout our global estate.”
Will Dean, CEO and Co-Founder at Immersive Gamebox, added, “We are committed to bringing our audience the very best partnerships which enable us to create one-of-a-kind immersive games they’ll love anywhere in the world.
“Our company’s purpose is to bring people together through technology-enabled shared play, and we are bringing these games to more people than ever before and revolutionising how fans interact with entertainment through this partnership with Merlin Entertainments. Given Merlin’s position as a global leader in location-based attractions combined with their track record of scaling across markets, the agreement also supports further expansion of Gameboxes globally.”
Blooloop spoke to O’Neill and Dean about the new partnership and its potential.
A successful business model
There has been an explosion in immersive experiences over the last few years. We asked Dean what the key factors in the success of Immersive Gamebox are:
“I think three things. You need to be social. The trouble with VR is once with a headset on, you’re not really with your friends. You have to be scalable. There’s a lot of things out there that are just really complicated and it’s hard to do lots of them. And then thirdly, you have to have a reason to come back. If you look at something like an escape room or like a museum of ice cream, it’s a once and done activity. That’s why we produce a new game every other month. And that’s what drives people back.”
Dean, who previously created the successful Tough Mudder endurance events, says that the Immersive Gamebox experience is similarly about bringing people together, rather than creating a tech-led experience. In a previous Blooloop interview he talked about being a technology leverager rather than pioneer.
Immersive Gamebox has an enviable 31% customer repeat rate. Dean says, “At its core, the reason that we think we work is because we’ve created something fun and social. People are playing more board games at home. Why? Because people want stuff that gets them together, that actually gets them talking and playing together. And that’s what we’re about. We’re not just trying to create a tech experience for the sake of creating a tech experience.”
Discovering Immersive Gamebox
Merlin will have had its pick of immersive experiences looking for a partnership to scale up. O’Neil says that, “We do get approached by most companies. We’re one of the few companies in the space that that can scale over 24 countries and we have 141 attractions and we know the local market.”
O’Neil discovered Immersive Gamebox on a visit to New York City, when he asked Head of Real Estate, Chris Bird, “What’s new? What do you love?”
O’Neil says, “I played three games and I looked at Chris. I’m like, Do we know the CEO?”
Explaining the reasons for partnering with Immersive Gamebox, O’Neil says:
“One thing is just the product is extraordinary. And the tailwinds of what we and the team have built is exactly the way the world is going. And the third thing, quite frankly, is Will’s leadership. He’s a visionary, he’s different and he’s smart. He understands how to build and scale a business. He also understand what partnership means and the value of IP. And so for us, it’s like, is the product right? Is the management team there? Is there a proven business model where we can all make a few nickels as well? And so it’s this one checks all the boxes.”
O’Neil sees significant opportunities for growth with its “ubiquitous content. They operate in multiple languages. The brands cut across all cultural barriers. I think we’ll see some growth just about everywhere across our footprint.”
Brand partnerships
Immersive Gamebox already has a portfolio of IPs within its game catalogue. Similarly Merlin works with a host of leading brands, and O’Neil has previously said that Merlin’s strength is in bringing them to life. Is the Immersive Gamebox partnership a new platform for Merlin to do this?
“It sure is. You look at the IP that’s assembled here and you do everything from PAW Patrol to Squid Game to Ghostbusters and everything in between. It’s an incredible pipeline of just about a who’s who of brands. What brands have helped us do at Merlin, and certainly what this help will do, is just cut through some of the clutter. We’re trying to capture attention in a world where attention span is very short. And this dovetails really nicely into our midway strategy in terms of having city center clusters and building additional properties around them.”
Dean adds that the partnership with IP holders works both ways: “These big, big IP holders need ways to activate as well. This is a two way relationship that we’re creating with Netflix. We’re keeping Squid Game front and centre on top of mind between series one and two. They’ve got a lot of die hard fans of the show, and this is a great way to interact with the with the brand. It isn’t just us renting someone else’s IP, right? We’re giving them something as well.”
Insights
O’Neil has been in post almost a year and has spent the time travelling the world visiting the Merlin portfolio. What insights has he gained:
“You know, we understand who we are and why we do what we do. We’re in the memory making business, and we’re we bring fun and happiness to spread joy. And that’s a wonderful purpose.
Scott O’Neil, CEO Merlin EntertainmentsThe opportunity for growth is mind numbing. We are perfectly positioned for quite a rocket ship ride forward.
“The second thing is the scale. The scale is incredible. And it’s not just that we have 30,000 people from 97 countries. It’s that that group is is special and different and we lead with our hearts. We’re entrepreneurial, we’re gritty and scrappy, but yet we’re full of hope. It’s a wonderful group and team.
“And I’d say the third thing that that struck me is, is just the opportunity for growth is mind numbing. We are perfectly positioned for quite a rocket ship ride forward.”
