7 trends for active indoor entertainment

We listed 7 active indoor entertainment trends that affect the location-based entertainment industry (LBE), family entertainment centres, and activity parks. In a nutshell, stay on top by offering more gamified and immersive experiences, and group events. Encourage your visitors to share more content online, tap into social media marketing, and use automation and data from digital attractions to keep operational costs down.

Read more on boosting active indoor entertainment revenue by hosting birthday parties and group events.

‍#1 Everyone is a gamer looking for immersive experiences

According to PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2022-26, the global gaming industry is expected to rise to $321 billion by 2026. According to Newzoo, the number of gamers worldwide in 2022 was forecasted already to be around 3,2 billion. 

Video games have become a part of our daily lives. Video gaming is booming after Covid, and gamers come of all ages ranging from young school children to adults. Most active gamers are the Gen Y, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha generations most of whom have lived their whole lives in a world of digitalization. 

This trend means that multiple gaming-loving generations are looking for new gamified entertainment experiences outside the home to play games together socially.

#2 Beat the home entertainment, gain a competitive advantage

Today’s visitors have high expectations of entertainment outside what they already can access at home, so parks and LBE providers need to take the extra step. Upgrading your location to match evolving customer expectations enables you to gain a competitive advantage in the market.

Virtual, augmented reality and mixed-reality attractions are gaining traction today because they offer immersive and interactive experiences. Digitally savvy generations are gravitating toward digital attractions and immersive media. The quality of the games at the LBE location needs to match or surpass the quality of the consumed games at home. To boost your growth, and gain new and previous visitors, you need to wow your visitors with experiences that leave them eager to see what’s coming next.

Read more on how mixed-reality attractions are the future of FECs.

#3 Generate new revenue streams with group gaming events

Esports are also booming fast and the global virtual audiences of eSports are expected to hit 1,4 billion by 2025. Esports combines the excitement and competition of traditional sporting events but is experienced as a social online community. 

LBE providers actively seeking esports events have the opportunity to tap into this growing global fanbase to generate new group event revenue streams. 

Traditional eSports played while sitting down might not be fit for the offering of active LBE locations and their visitors (especially parents). Valo Motion created the first-ever Active eSports League for mixed-reality gaming called ValoLeague which connects the community of eSports enthusiasts who love sports and gaming. ValoLeague helps operators generate more revenue with mini-events, birthday parties, and global professional competition seasons with prizes. Players actively sharing competition videos online also create a great social media marketing boost for these locations.

#4 User-generated content is the key to increasing your visibility

Social media continues to grow in the everyday lives of people of all ages. Gamers too are more connected than ever, sharing videos and game content online. Tapping into this power of visitors’ social communities is sometimes an under-recognized asset for location operators.

All visitors love to share their experiences, photos, and videos on their social media platforms, and this helps promote locations across the world. These user-generated social media posts encourage others to visit the attractions too.

The attractions industry should drive more growth with user-generated content. This can be helped by providing LBE operators with digital attractions with ready-made photo-booth functionalities to encourage park visitors to effortless social media sharing. All Valo Motion’s game platforms are equipped with an easy-to-use selfie video-sharing functionality. Players can create shareable selfie videos and the videos are branded with operator logos to give more boost to the brand’s visibility in social media. 

Read more on how to boost Family Entertainment Center's brand marketing.

#5 Optimize operations with automation and data

Operating a location comes with high maintenance costs, staffing shortages, and labour costs. This can create many challenges for operators in driving growth. Introducing new digital attractions, such as Valo Motion’s products, that require no staff and are fully automated helps reduce operational costs. 

Operators who also put a heavier focus on the usage of visitor and product data can also better optimize their profitability. For instance, Valo Motion provides data on product usage that helps operators better to ongoingly understand product usage, increase ticket prices, optimize attractions' electricity usage, and more.

#6 Stores and malls leverage LBE to provide immersive experiences

Retail evolution is changing how the shopping journey is experienced. Mall developers continue to innovate to tackle the effects of the rise of e-commerce and the decline of the post-Covid in-store traffic to offer today’s connected shoppers more real-life experiences and social spaces in shopping malls and stores.

Malls are starting to change into engaging shopping destinations and fulfilment centres where customers can do more than just shop. Visitors can have memorable and thrilling experiences in restaurants, sporting locations, gaming zones, and amusement areas where they can have fun with their friends and family.

Tap into new revenue streams with ValoPark’s innovative park concept for retail.

With ValoPark, our new park concept for retail launched in 2023, park operators can now capture new audiences in these high-traffic retail environments.

‍

#7 Demand for experiences is driving growth in LBE

According to IMF forecast for February 2023, due to "surprisingly resilient" demand in the United States and Europe the current year can be a positive turning point in economic growth. The world economy is forecasted to grow by 2.9 % this year and 3.1 % in 2024. The global Location-Based Entertainment market size is expected to reach a value of US$ 30.29 billion by 2028. The drivers for industry growth are the demand for immersive video, video games, and other immersive entertainment such as MR, AR and VR Technologies. 

According to the 2022 Euromonitor’s Voice of the Consumer Lifestyles survey, 76 % of consumers globally agree that real-life experiences are important to them, and visitors will spend an incremental USD115 billion on experiences and attractions by 2027. Consumer demand for new real-life experiences has been building up during the COVID-19 years. 

‍

Discover more trends driving FEC market growth in 2024, including interactive attractions that appeal to all ages.

Check out this new market report from our blog. For operators of FECs, amusement parks, or active indoor entertainment venues, staying ahead of these trends is key to sustained success.