A MERIDEN company is planning to open its own immersive experience after supplying international entertainment giants for more than 15 years.
Meriden-based Hollywood Gaming has become a market leader in providing special effects working with the likes of Hasbro, Paramount Pictures, Sony and EA on games distributed by Sega Amusements to arcades and family entertainment centres around the world.
The business is led by directors Malcolm Barnes and Mark Evans and employs a handful of people who help make experiences come to life.
Now, after being supported by the University of Warwick Science Park’s Business Ready programme, the company is developing a new area of the business, Immersive Hollywood, where it will open venues of its own and provide unique multi-sensory visitor experiences.
The company, which was founded in 2005, is currently mapping out that expansion and will look to raise around £800,000 in investment to get that side of the business off the ground and is already scoping locations where it could open its own venue experiences.
Hollywood Gaming is working with a team of scriptwriters to help create the narratives for the new experiences, which Malcolm forecasts will cost around £30 per person to play.
The experiences currently being mapped out are a safari, alien invasion and dinosaur world. Each would use the same physical props but, by tailoring the VR and other 4D elements such as smells, motion and wind, every experience would be different despite taking place in the same place.
“We believe that our experience and skills in this area give us a great platform to create our own venues and our own experiences,” said Malcolm.
“As well as extended reality, our games will be brought to life with props and also tapping into other senses such as touch and smell, which is what helps to set them apart from ordinary virtual reality experiences.”
The company has plans to expand in the UK and then Europe and North America.
