A new virtual reality game center has arrived in Regency.
Pelagos VR opened last month in a storefront next to restaurant Sloop John B. at the Kiokasin Avenue entrance of West Henrico Mall.
The 5,000-square-foot venue includes a 33-foot-by-33-foot “free-roam” arena, a space dedicated to a virtual escape room, and four treadmill-like stations offering a variety of games.
Gaming sessions at Pelagos start at $45. Escape room games run for 45 minutes, while other VR experiences last 25 minutes per session. The Escape Room space has space for 6 players at a time, and the Arena space has space for 5 players at a time.
Arena Space players can play gunfights and adventure games licensed from Switzerland-based TrueVR Systems. The virtual escape room game is licensed from Canada-based vrCave and incorporates some video game elements into an experience similar to a real-world escape room.
Four “omnidirectional” treadmill stations allow players equipped with VR equipment to move around the virtual world using the treadmill’s infinite surface. This station is manufactured by the Austrian company Cyberith Technologies.
The venue includes a room where customers can wear VR equipment and be briefed by Pelagos employees on how the game works before the session begins. During matches, employees act as observers to ensure that players do not collide with each other or fall.
Pelagos is owned by Gene and Joan Burke. Daughter Katie is the company’s creative director and son Colin is marketing director.
The business markets fully immersive virtual experiences and is primarily targeted at young people.
โOne of the great appeals of our place is the power of play and being able to immerse yourself in a completely different world and enhance your imagination,โ says John, who previously worked at local escape room company Ravenchase Adventures. said Katie. “Because it’s so easy to pretend when you’re a kid, but I think the older you get, the harder it is to have fun. We want to create an environment and a place where people feel safe and can relearn.” I wanted to.โ
Pelago also has a restaurant that can accommodate up to 50 people. In addition to beer and wine, the menu includes Philadelphia cheesesteak egg rolls, pretzel bites, mini corn dogs, salads, charcuterie boards, and more.
“We’re going to sweat it out here, so we have a fun mix of fancy pub food and haute cuisine, charcuterie and something healthy,” Katie said.
Pelagos is open from 6pm to 10pm. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 3:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to midnight, and Sundays from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM. The venue is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Gene, who previously worked at Capital One and recently retired as Koalafi’s COO, estimated that launching Pelagos will cost less than $1 million.
He said Pelagos, which means “deep sea” in ancient Greek, seeks to capitalize on the growing popularity and accessibility of virtual reality experiences. He estimated that just over half of the venue’s visitors came with some knowledge of home VR devices, but the novelty of the concept would also help business.
โVR is a little more well-known than it was a few years ago,โ he said. “It’s an innate charm. When people see it or hear it, they say, ‘That’s the coolest thing ever.’ There are a lot of things like that, so they sell themselves. โ
Pelagos is a family-run operation of what Gene calls a “high-end” virtual reality center, and likens his business to Sandbox VR, a franchise chain of VR venues based in Northern Virginia and elsewhere. In the country.
Looking to the future, Pelagos is interested in developing its own VR experience and may consider franchising the concept.
โWe will be looking at a variety of potential growth strategies,โ Jean said.
Pelagos is the newest experience-based tenant at Regency, where owners Revky and Talimer Realty Partners have recently pivoted the mall’s direction from a retail focus to a mixed-use format that includes activity-based tenants and residential. I’m trying to convert. unit.
Other entertainment-focused tenants at Regency include trampoline venue Surge Adventure Park and performance pickleball.