Entertainment Social Arena #14 – Gunning for Social Entertainment

AI Constructed Brief

Investors should note the rising trend of social shooting experiences, blending gamification, hospitality, and competition. Brands like Clays and PAN are innovating with arcade-style and traditional clay pigeon shooting, appealing to diverse demographics and private events. Platform developers like Laser Shot and HD Sportsuite are creating digital and simulated shooting games for entertainment venues. Historical roots from amusement games like ‘Shoot Away’ highlight longstanding popularity. The sector emphasizes group engagement, branded experiences, and technology-driven registration. Overall, this sector presents growth opportunities in innovative, social, and immersive shooting entertainment formats within the location-based entertainment market.

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Along with the more familiar gamified sports activities deployed into the unique hospitality infused social entertainment landscape. We are seeing the deployment of new applications building on market popularity and a strong gamification. One such approach that mirrors the early days of amusement is that of shooting galleries. We now offer the low down on this new application.

In the early days of the amusement trades transition from electro-mechanical gaming to video gaming saw the popularity in light gun games. Shooting gallery experiences, a main driver of innovation and revenue, digital removing the complicated operation. The emergence of the Competitive Socializing sector seems to be emulating this path. We look at the latest developers and operators offering this popular entertainment. We also include later a history lesson on the past popularity of amusement shooting.

In the modern market, one of the first shooting experiences to fully embrace the competitive socializing approach was Clays. First opening in the City of London during 2021, the venue offered a mix of themed gentlemen’s club and shooting bays with authentic weighed shotguns and large projection screens. These bays supported by touchscreen ordering and game selection. The owners of the site focusing on an authentic feel to the activity, but also a strong hospitality element with a large shareable menu and cocktail selection.

With the next phase of investment into the business, we saw the opening of the third London site for the chain, with ‘Clays Soho’, (alongside a fourth venue in Birmingham). We were lucky enough to be invited to the VIP opening of this facility and could chart the changes to the concept since we attended the launch of ‘Clays Canary Warf’ a few years back.

The latest location brings the same style to the Soho location, though traversing two levels down into the basement. Introduction and registration, creating your account and capturing your image via QR-Code empowered registration kiosks. A move towards a totally staff-less registration process seen across the sector. Once registered the space includes a stylish central bar, surrounded by a stage for live DJ’s and over 15 shooting bays. Unlike the golf alternative, these bays offer groups a chance to take turns at several clay pigeon shooting games. With their own touchscreens for food and drink order.

Not all these bays are for group hire parties, however. The newest addition to the makeup of the Clays environment is the introduction of the new ‘Clays Arcade’. Several three-player bays, specially designed for a quick-fire game experience, with two rounds each. A much more casual approach to the shooting experience, reminiscent of the arcade game and carnival shooting gallery approach. The design of the enclosures hoping to address the weight and heft of the realistic shotguns.

Observations – This latest interpretation of the Clays brand offered the same socially engaging and well catered experience, with a strong cocktail and competition vibe. The venue was obviously focused on group registration. Sources suggesting that most of the business is from group and private event hire. Several of the VIP guests invited to the opening event coming from the Event Hire space (see previous coverage of importance in this sector of private hire business).

The appearance of the new ‘Clays Arcade’ was a surprise pivot by the company to offer a more open shooting experience. And clearly borrowed from research into a more “arcade” style of playing. The need to realise that not everyone is able to undertake long sessions of handling a realistic shotgun, and that a more arcade-style-of-play approach with quick-fire games would work was obvious.

Regarding the overall approach: We would give the latest venue a solid rating based on the new scoring process that the Entertainment Social Arena will now apply to our venue reviews:

Thematization / Design – 8/10
Entertainment / Socializing – 6/10
Quality of Hospitality – 8/10
Value for Money – 6/10
Overall Appeal – 7/10

Take The Shot

Clays is not the only provider of Competitive Socializing shotgun action. And we have seen this aspect of the locations-based entertainment (LBE) market broken into the operation and into the provider of platforms.

Regarding developers of facility chains and we have observed facility operations that are competing with Clays’ such as in France. PAN started in 2024, the interactive shooting game venue offerings semi-private spaces (bays) for up to 10 players. The games (Ball Traps) on offer include a selection of four different experiences aimed at two player competition. PAN has approached the clay pigeon shooting experience from a different perspective, dialling into the social entertainment. Offering a much lighter re-creation of the traditional shotgun to appeal to a wider demographics, with a longer play model.

This trailed “shot bar”, PAN has opened first in Paris to cement its position in the genre and is about to announce plans to roll out further sites internationally. They will represent direct competition to Clays in controlling the landscape for shooting experiences. Both offering a high quality in thematizing the social space to a laidback social cocktail and blasting vibe. Other providers in this sphere include Point Blank – another offering a compelling social entertainment mix with a shooting theme. The first facility in Scotland, has mushroomed to sites in Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle. Not just offering shotgun action, the venues have unique pneumatic blowback recreations of pistols and machineguns, (based on the Laser Shot platform, see below). All linked to projection screen shooting gallery action alongside cocktails.

Other social entertainment venues that have incorporated a more “shooting gallery” approach to including gunplay in their venues. The latest Fairgame City venue opened in London, and once again, the publisher of Entertainment Social Arena was able to be in attendance to the VIP opening event. Most of this fairground thematized venue offers 12 new game experiences based on the proven fairground formular, supported by an extensive cocktail and shareable menu. A game from the original Canary Warf venue offers a more traditional shooting gallery experience. Called ‘Phoney Island’ offers a five player, old-school shooting gallery experience. The shooting gallery experience using light weight tethered rifles (firing a light beam), offers a simple recreation of the carny attraction. Why this experience was not repeated for the new City of London site seems a serious missed opportunity.

The familiar fairground experience has also been created by the Fayre Play chain, with three facilities, offering their unique interpretation of shooting gallery experience. With their ‘Shots Fired’ – offering a competitive socializing telling of the familiar experience using pistol shooting. The recreation of the traditional fairground attraction underpinning how popular this style of shooting gallery experience is even with a modern audience, and why we are seeing so many social entertainment venues looking towards deploying their own interpretation.

Regarding the provider of platforms and we see the employment, as in the golf sim sector, of developers of training platforms looking towards a commercial entertainment application. SimWays has been one of the leading developers of sports shooting and law enforcement training aids. The company pivoted into entertainment, and we have previously reported on their platform, as seen at the inaugural Social Immersive Entertainment (SIE) event in London this year. The company presenting their ‘ShootOut’, comprising their Clayshot and Gunslinger game experiences. What the company has now defined as “SimWay Social Gaming”, they have released a full touchscreen kiosk operated system with the launch of new content ‘Zero Hour’ a zombie blaster. This turnkey kiosk also launched offering a golf experience with ‘Swing It’.

Another SIE exhibitor, and inspiration in the social entertainment space, CONDUCTR – through their Game Volt division launched this year their ‘Hot Shots’ platform. Offering their digital shooting gallery experience for up to 10 players. Able to be dropped into venues as a standalone social entertainment experience using shotguns and offering a selection of some mini-shooting game modes. All launched from a touchscreen kiosk employing an intuitive UX. The development of a shooting gallery experience points to Game Volt’s focus on the social entertainment landscape having released their popular ‘Supercharged Shuffleboard’ and ‘The Arena’ play-scape.

Another developer from the training simulation sector, the company Laser Shot known for their sports shooting, military and law enforcement platforms ventured into the commercial entertainment landscape. It is these systems from the company that has been deployed into the Point Blank venue, mentioned earlier. Several venues in the States have created shooting bays based on this system to bring sports shooting to their audience as an alternative to the more familiar sports and golf enclosures. The difficult blending of a fun shooting experience with an accurate recreation of the firearm operation. Laser Shot able to offer not just passive but full feedback pneumatic weapons systems based on the level of engagement the operator wants to impart.

Joining the group of sports simulation training tools targeting the entertainment sector, and we have HD Sportsuite – the company known for their multi-sport experiences linked to ball tracking and projection. Placed in residential and commercial training venues, the company has started to broaden their reach into the social entertainment space and have created content accordingly. This has now been supported by the companies ranging of shooting games. This includes their ‘HD Sportsuite: Duck Hunting’ game package, offering a shotgun experience suitable for sports training, but also supported with more game shooting elements. Offering some 10 different shooting experiences for shotguns, rifles, pistols and even archery bows.

Another player in this space is Sports Simulator – known for their wide range of sports related projection experience systems. The company has also included a sports shooting simulator range that delivers virtual shooting experiences – including realistic action as well as more game-based challenges. Supporting their ‘Shooting Simulator’ 4k projection platform with content using shotguns and pistols.

In Asia the Legend Heroes Sports chain of entertainment venues offers sports simulation enclosures based on their platform. We covered this in our “Sportstainment” feature previously. In their ‘Shooting Zone’ at these sites shooting games on offer include Shooting Clays and Duck Hunting with a shotgun, as well as First Person Shooting (FPS) with a realistic pneumatic automatic rifle – in “military mode” gaming. The Legend Heroes chain looking at an international placement, with a Western roll out.

With this investment into the social entertainment space by sport shooting and training platform developers, we can expect to see their latest advancements applied into the scene. The next generation of entertainment spaces to see new immersive projection environments, or even Mixed Reality headsets employed to offer a new level of engagement, to solidify interest in this new shooting gallery for the social market.

Little bit of history repeating

The standalone clay pigeon shooting experience can trace its roots back into the amusement sector. One of NAMCO’s early successful releases was the 1977 amusement game ‘Shoot Away’. A shotgun two-player game, that used a unique mechanical projection system to represent the clays and hits.

The game was released in North America the following year and gained popularity, even seeing a single player version. This would be followed in 1993 by the launch in the West of ‘Shoot Away II’, updating the popular electro-mechanical platform. So successful, the anniversary of the game was marked with a modern remixed recreation of the clay pigeon blaster with ‘Shoot Away Pro’ – released by the merged BANDAI NAMCO Amusement operation in 2018.

The popularity of ‘Shoot Away’ in 1978 came as the amusement trade was migrating from the ubiquitous electro-mechanical machine business towards video amusement. The amusement scene has continued its support of the shooting game, from the light-gun titles of the 1990’s to more modern interpretations. Regarding the sports shooter, and the crown has been held for decades by Play Mechanix ‘Big Buck Hunter’ series. The pump action shotgun blaster is supported by an extensive tournament championship.

The holding of “BuckFest” – the ‘Big Buck Hunter World Championships 2025’, taking place in Texas, which saw a prize pot of $25,000 up for grabs, with live music and streamed competitions. These machines are deployed heavily in tavern and bars in the States. An illustration of the popularity of this playing style in hospitality since being launched in 2000. In recent news the game is about the receive some competition from ACE Amusement with their new ‘Wild Hunting’, a two and four player shotgun wild animal shooting carnival building on the proven formula.

Based on personal experience of the digital entertainment landscape, light-gun action has proven a strong draw to the key audience we hope to attract to our venues. This draw was understood by those that operated the carnival shooting galleries of the 1920-30’s and 1940-50’s. But also offers a simple skill-based entertainment experience that proves compelling, fun and repeatable that other location-entertainment finds hard to achieve. How much more from the proven “carney” playbook will we be applying to our future social entertainment future, as has been seen in amusement redemption – we can only guess.