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I took a short break during IAAPA EU, and then went on a meditation retreat. Did you miss reading this newsletter? Did you even notice? Just reply and let me know.

While I was away from the computer, the VR market continued to expand around the globe. A massive new 26,000-square-foot free-roam VR center opened near O’Hare airport in Rosemont. Netflix House is getting ready to open in Philadelphia with multiple XR attractions, but they're not done coming after your LBE business. Party games in the living room, anyone? Meanwhile, FEC operators in America continue to ignore the hottest sector in global out-of-home entertainment. What’s that song from Great White?

"Let's not forget about the elephant in the room”

New Developments

Downloadable Theme Parks

EXP Plants a 26,000-Sq-Ft Flag in Rosemont’s Pearl District

EXP pairs free-roam VR with museum-grade storytelling—think Khufu’s pyramid and a 3.5-billion-year “Life Chronicles” tour—in a venue built to blend culture and play. Read more...

“VR City” Courts Tech Tourists with Futuristic Showcase

Positioned as a must-see for gadget pilgrims, the attraction leans into immersive galleries and high-concept installations aimed squarely at tech lovers. Read more...

FECs and Arcades

Sandbox VR Teams with a Natural History Museum—Dinosaurs, Anchored by Science

A museum partnership frames prehistoric immersion as education-plus-spectacle, giving institutions a repeatable template for crowds and classrooms. Read more...

Qbix Library Grows to Eight Multiplayer Titles

Two new games join Qbix’s lineup, expanding options for operators chasing variety, replay, and higher station utilization. Read more...

VR Warehouse Named Finalist at Visit Cheshire Tourism Awards

Runcorn’s family-friendly VR centre—stand-up bays, racing rigs, coaster sim—lands on the Small Visitor Attraction shortlist, with finals slated for March 5, 2026. Read more...

Pensacola’s VR Adventure Zone Eyes Move to Pier One Marina

The family-focused arcade is seeking SRIA approval to relocate, pairing waterfront footfall with all-ages immersive play. Read more...

Dudley Cuts Ribbon on £4M “Fun City” Entertainment Complex

Opening-day crowds packed the new town-centre venue, with local football legends Steve Bull and Bob Taylor on hand for the launch. Read more on Express & Star

Museums and Science Centers

Hong Kong Maritime Museum Debuts Ancient Shu VR Journey

“Voyage Into Shu” blends artifacts with a four-scene VR dig through Sanxingdui and Jinsha—hands-on archaeology without the dust. Read more...

Zagreb Launches “Travel Experience” Museum with VR at Its Core

The new cultural stop marries local storytelling with headset-driven encounters, crafted for tourists chasing something less cookie-cutter. Read more...

Travel and Tourism

Foxwoods Plans “Bee VR” Theme Park Inside Tanger Outlets

Expect a 15-seat coaster sim with wrap-around screens, 60+ smaller ride scenarios, and an arcade mix—positioned as a compact, high-throughput anchor. Read more...

Titanic VR Makes Port in Seville

A new installation lets visitors step into the story with VR dramatization—history retold through presence, not placards. Read more...

Exhibition Hub Adds a VR “7 Wonders” Tour

The blockbuster-exhibition team layers headset moments onto its traveling format, aiming for bigger dwell times and word-of-mouth. Read more...

Vive Arts Brings Opera & Versailles Into VR

Partnerships with Opéra de Paris and Château de Versailles use VR to expand access and reframe heritage for new audiences. Read more on Surface

Technology

Nintendo Revives Virtual Boy—As Switch/Switch 2 Add-On

A new adapter + Classics library brings stereoscopic 3D titles (from Mario’s Tennis to Teleroboxer) back in 2026, nostalgia intact. Read more on Tom’s Hardware

Meta Ray-Ban “Display” Sells Out in 48 Hours

Early demand for the HUD-equipped glasses plus Neural Band outpaced supply; Meta says more stores and restocks are coming. Read more on UploadVR

One Big Thing

Netflix Comes for the Competitive Socializing Market

Last week, Netflix announced it’s launching new social games on its streaming platform, targeting people who want to play social games together in their living rooms. As if getting people off their couch wasn’t hard enough already.

Their initial launch slate includes these five popular games:

LEGO® Party! – Square off against your friends in the ultimate LEGO party game. Compete in hilarious minigames and hunt for gold through themed Challenge Zones.

Boggle Party – Race against the clock to find words (the longer, the better) in a jumbled-up letter grid. Play solo or make it a party with up to eight players.

Pictionary: Game Night – Draw 'til you drop — or one of your friends guesses what you're sketching — in this hilarious and fast-paced spin on Mattel’s classic group game.

Tetris Time Warp – Time-travel with friends to different eras of Tetris, from the 1984 original to the classic Gameboy version. Can you warp your way to a top score?

Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends – One person at this party secretly has no idea what everyone else is talking about. Figure out whose clues are fishy to unmask the crasher.

Players just need a smartphone with the Netflix app installed. When a game is launched on the TV, everyone scans the QR code on the screen, turning their phone into a controller. It’s about as low-friction an experience as you can get. And the F&B is already in the fridge.

Over the last year, a trend on TikTok called “Living Room Family,” where families gather to spend time together. It’s funny, because Living Rooms used to be where the family gathered to spend time together. Now we all sit in different rooms and text message each other cat videos. I guess what is old is new again. Too bad we have a new 25% tariff on upholstered furniture. Or maybe that’s enough to get people to come to an FEC to play games?

What does all this have to do with virtual reality? Nobody is going to be playing VR with friends in their living room. Certainly not in the foreseeable future. Multiplayer VR games are unique experiences that are good enough to get people off the couch and into YOUR living room — I mean, entertainment center.

I was at IAAPA EU in Barcelona two weeks ago, and for me the biggest thing was that FEC owners are installing VR attractions left and right. This is likely because the industry is relatively new there, and they didn’t suffer the same growing pains as the early adopters in the US. Between the pandemic supply chain issues making parts impossible to buy, to the labor shortages and wage inflation, to the early hardware challenges of immature platforms, it was a mess.

But the latest hardware from HTC and PICO is rock solid. Free-roam VR platforms are easy to set up, maintain, and operate. And they can be cheap AF. Multiple companies are offering mobile setups for six players for less than $10K. Hero Zone’s turnkey system is under $50K. The new Insta VR from DIVR, an unattended free roam system, was just launched for $75K at the Barcelona show. Even Zero Latency’s system has dropped from $700K to under $200K in the last 6 years.

If you’re in the FEC business, it really is time to take another look at the VR market. I know operators have a long memory. When I was with the digital jukebox company Ecast, I spoke to a route operator who refused to buy a Rock-Ola jukebox because, 30 years ago, they sold one directly to a bar in his city. That’s called elephantitis of the brain. (Elephants never forget, remember?)

Don’t be an elephant. See you in Orlando.

Stay immersed,

Bob

PS - I want to hear from you. Just reply…

1. If you’re coming to Orlando in November and want an invite to a private showcase to see the latest in free-roam VR, just reply to this email and let me know.

2. If you’re an FEC operator, I want to hear from you. What’s your temp on VR right now?

3. Are you a theater operator? I need to talk to you.

Email Was Only the Beginning

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