#1209 – Branded Entertainment Explodes

We now cover a very crowded last few months in the sector. The proximity of this mass of “May Convention Madness” to the next run of shows was not lost on hard pressed exhibitors. The next few weeks, moving into June, saw IAAPA Expo Asia, Licensing Expo 2024 and other events.

IP Drives New LBE Investment

Rushing back from China’s AAA’24 and we were Vegas bound with the Licensing Expo 2024 (LE’24) at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas. The branding and licensing mega-event continued themes of previous years by promoting their “Brands at Play”. The show and conference was promoting the new immersive brand experiences, with 2024 making a major investment in the venue business. As seen both at the US and at coming September European Brand Licensing Show towards promoting this aspect of the business.

The LBE and amusement/attraction sector was represented on the exhibition show floor in Vegas. Videogame developers and IP publishers with LBE interests were prevalent. SEGA, KONAMI, BANDAI NAMCO, Sony Pictures, Paramount and Hasbro all took space at the show and promoted their interests in this sphere. Hasbro would go on to open ‘Planet Playskool’, based on their popular toy brand, a few weeks after LE’24 – aimed at a 3-9 age group and employing many of the popular brands from the company, aimed at a STEAM-based play experience within the 20,000-sq.ft. facility.

News that other brands were looking to gain greater recognition saw the announcement that fast food restaurant McDonald’s revealed they had retained IMG to grow their brand globally, with a licensing program. With nearly 40,000 locations worldwide, serving some 65m customers daily, the corporation is looking to promote its brand with a range of licensed products to be developed. The announcement was made in the buildup to the licensing expo.

Regarding location-based entertainment projects benefiting from strong IP, we refer to the announcement that AREA15 will be striking a partnership with Superplastic, the IP factory renowned across animated entertainment, music, fashion, and collectible art toys. In this strategic partnership, the company will open an experiential space within the AREA15 entertainment district as another of the expanding installations within the space. The entertainment district is seeing some 3m visitors annually, and this latest entertainment experience hopes to capture the interest. Superplastic is looking to a first of its kind for the brick-and-mortar attraction to increase visualisation of the brand.

The creation of immersive attractions offers a vehicle for specially created content, much linked to licensed properties. For example, we have reported on Cosm, and their rollout of their immersive screen experience based on high-resolution LED-infused technology. The immersive viewing 8k wrapround screen experience has been linked to placing the audience front and center at sporting events, and Cosm has signed licensing agreements with live sports programming specially developed for the screen, with ESPN, US Open, National Hockey League and NBA, along with other premier livestreamed sports events.

The first Cosm facility opened in Hollywood, California, in June and, in another licensed experience, the venue has partnered with Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group to include performance experiences to their lineup. The second venue is currently under construction for a 2025 opening in Dallas. Another immersive experience developer announced their latest opening, with Illuminarium opening in the summer at Chicago’s iconic Navy Pier. This marks the fifth opening of the immersive theater concept, offering between 45- and 60-minute experiences based on their curated content (Illuminarium partner Panasonic is undergoing major developments, as covered in the SEA’24 report).

We have already reported on the news that UNIS Technology, the amusement powerhouse, would be partnering with the emoji brand to launch a chain of family entertainment venues called ‘emojiPlanet’ – a new style of arcade space that will immerse the guests in the brand. Branding in the FEC and LBE sector has become even more important with the entry of well-known IP into the sector. Some chains have decided on rebranding, as seen with EVO Entertainment – in India, the well-known SMAAASH chain of amusement entertainment venues announced their rebrand to ‘Zoreko – Original Gamers’. The reason for the rebranding was stated as representing a strategic shift towards a more spirited and engaging brand experience. The corporation is hoping to align more with the core audience of the chain – a chain which is expanding, opening a new flagship location and adding to their some 32-sites.

Meanwhile, at the same time, we have been reporting on Mattel and the developments by the toy and IP corporation regarding their planned Adventure Park project, scheduled to open in a few years, as part of an extensive rollout of properties utilizing the brand’s suite of IP. The importance of brand recognition was illustrated across the LE’24 show floor by the number of large IP owners creating divisions to. handle the application of their brands in out-of-home entertainment. Taking to the show stage, the Disney Experiences team unveiled their plans to follow the corporation’s initiative to release attractions and experiences based on their extensive IP. Along with LBE, the importance of toy brands based on licensed IP was reflected extensively on the show floor. The toy and merchandising (merch) scene was represented with a new trade publication called Pop Insider – offering a B2B and, more importantly, B2C perspective, charting fans’ and influencers’ interests.

Big news was announced after LE’24 of Netflix’s plans in the LBE space. It was revealed that the streaming corporation would be opening two venues based on their ‘Netflix House’ concept in Dallas and Pennsylvania. The venues will comprise multiple attractions based on the most popular of the streaming service’s films and series. A mixing of immersive experiences and live action attractions are expected, all supported by extensive merchandising. This move gives a permanent venue for previously developed pop-up attractions. The location of these two venues are 100,000-sq.ft. previous department stores. This development follows close behind the Sony ‘Wonderverse’ opening last year, and there are plans from several other movie, toy, and streaming services to look at permanent locations for their own LBE developments.

The influence of brands and IP in the immersive entertainment sector was also seen with the announcement of an October opening scheduled for Zero Latency’s latest VR free-roaming game experience. This is seen with a partnership between Warhammer 40k and the property to launch ‘Space Marines VR Defender of Avarax’ – a game which will have the eight players in the free-roam space, taking on alien opponents, and based on the property’s universe (the IP is owned by Games Workshop). The release will be across the chain of franchised Zero Latency venues. The interest in the Warhammer 40k universe is expected to surge with the news of an Amazon Studios TV show series also in the works – along with the ever-popular miniature figures, boardgames, and videogames based on the Games Workshop property.

The attractions and entertainment sectors were attending the LE’24 show in force, leading up to the TEA organizing a mixer of members and friends to meet socially. This had to compete with the famous Licensing Expo Opening Night Party.

In Conclusion – LE’24 saw an attendance of some 12,000 international attendees coming to view some 5,000 brands represented across the LV show floor. This marked a reported 35-percent increase on the previous year. The event plans to increase its investment into LBE and experience-based licensing engagement. Licensing Expo’25 is taking place on 20-22 May 2025.

The Asian Attraction Expo Event (Part 1)

Bouncing back from Vegas to the Asian attraction scene, with the holding of IAAPA Expo Asia (IAAPA-Asia’24). The travelling IAAPA association trade event found itself at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC), Bangkok. It was focused on the Asian-Pacific (APAC) region, seeing delegates drawn from the Australian, East Asian, and Southeast Asian territories, along from the international landscape.

This is a crowded Chinese amusement and attraction exhibition scene with GTI, also as seen with AAA as we covered in the previous report. This IAAPA event had a high bar to reach. The crowded show floor at the Taiwanese convention center hoped to prove that the association event could still draw strong exhibition floor and attendance figures. Regarding the key aspects of the industry in this sector being covered, facility and venue services were represented by the likes of KCC Entertainment, developing and designing the next generation of entertainment spaces.

Amusement development was represented by the next generation of crane and capsule machines from China, presented to the international audience. Examples included Unique Animation Technology and their new stylish crane units. Also, EPARK presented their range of crane systems finding favor in the APAC region, while also reflecting the new design popular with the audience. More conventional amusement saw LAI Games promoting their new offroad racing DX platform ‘SMASH’. While the Chinese UNIS Technology group took a booth and showed their own racing title and amusement prize platforms.

Immersive attractions are heavily dependent on media-based developers. DOF Robotics, hot from their appearance at SEA’24, brought their VR ride attraction ‘Hurricane VR’ to wow the show attendees. Along with promoting their VR monster truck simulator and new attraction concepts. Full Dome Pro, famous for their design and development of immersive experiences, came to the IAAPA Asia extravaganza with a 360-degree full dome demonstrator of their latest attraction ‘Balloon Simulator’ – a re-creation of a hot air balloon basket, and panoramic dome visuals offering a new approach to the “soaring-style” media attraction. Also on the booth was their ‘Super Dome’ media-based attraction – cinema style 4D motion seats placed within the dome enclosure for an immersive ride film experience. This is a shared reality experience without the need for headset, with an immersive enclosure footprint (as either a popup or a permanent installation).

Another media-based attraction developer, Brogent Technologies, promoted their flying theater business, comprising the 10k series ‘Soaring Earth’ to be licensed. The company was also promoting their award-winning racing simulator. The eSports race simulator scene is proving a popular business aspect for APAC operators. Like Full Dome Pro, Brogent were fielding their own balloon ride attraction as part of their ‘V-Ride360’ platform. PixLED Display came to IAAPA-Asia’24 with their dome and large format screens moving beyond projection.

Media-based attractions driving the attractions sector were represented on the IAAPA-Asia’24 floor. Lagotronics Projects had models of their groundbreaking interactive Dark Rides ‘GameChanger’. While Attraktion! came to the Asian show with promotion of their ‘Cinesplash 5D Outdoor’ – a 4D cinema for water parks. Waterparks were playing a major part in the IAAPA show. Other major media attraction promotion was seen from exhibitor TRIOTECH, partnered with BoldMove Nation, and with the partnership showing their Dark Ride attraction VR amusement piece. TRIOTECH was keen to reveal the work they had undertaken on ‘Puy du Fou Asia’ for the grand opening of SAGA City of Light in Shanghai.

XR developments were also represented on the IAAPA-Asia’24 floor, such as seen from HOLOGATE Entertainment. The fruits of their law enforcement and military training platforms from their division HGXR, could be seen in the launch of the new range from the company. Demoed on the IAAPA-Asia booth, the operation is now moving forward with a wireless solution, deleting the cumbersome cables from the new suite of products. HOLOGATE have announced three versions of their platform, with the ‘HOLOGATE Arena – Ultimate’, based on the previous enclosure system, now with wireless headsets. The ‘HOLOGATE Arena – Infinite’ is an open arena style version of the system; and the ‘HOLOGATE Arena – Core’ is a cost-effective floor only configuration. All use the HTC Focus 3 streamed VR headsets, with the Ultimate also including bHaptic vests. This development hopes to offer a version of the VR platform for all venue preferences in a flexible package. The original ‘HOLOGATE Arena’ recently celebrated its 20m VR experience, across an impressive 450 units operationally internationally.

Another VR arena developer is seen with the MACK Ride division MACK NeXT, with partners VRCoaster.  We have already reported on ‘YULLBE’ and the free-roaming VR enclosure system’s involvement in new content. Beyond the free-roam, the passive VR scene was represented by MACK with their passive VR experience for rollercoasters, as reported with the latest Europa-Park installation of the VRCoaster ‘Phantom of the Opera’ rollercoaster. Moving further across the IAAPA-Asia show floor, and Battle Start, described as a developer of next-gen VR arena, promoted a platform focused for children’s parties – but it also has games for adult players, with Battle and “Zombie” focused on key target groups. The platform claims some 134 arenas in operation. The next part of this IAAPA Asia coverage is following soon.