This CEO Thinks VR’s Future is Already Here—Do You?

Inside Excurio VR: Fabien Barati on the Future of Location-Based Entertainment

I sat down with Excurio founder and CEO Fabien Barati to talk about the state of VR in the art and cultural space—and what’s next for location-based entertainment (LBE) VR.

Excurio has quickly become a leader in immersive expeditions, creating large-scale, free-roam VR experiences that transport audiences to historical sites, artistic worlds, and cultural landmarks. As the LBE industry continues evolving, Excurio’s approach offers valuable insights into what works, what doesn’t, and where things are headed.

The Success of Longer-Form Free Roam VR

Excurio’s experiences run for 45 minutes—significantly longer than most LBE VR attractions. This balance of depth, engagement, and throughput efficiency makes VR more accessible to newcomers while still delivering the immersive storytelling that keeps visitors coming back.

Fabien talked about how important storytelling is and that in his experience 45 minutes is the minimum it takes to really build a narrative. This makes sense, as dramatic television was always around a 45 minute (plus commercials) run-time. 

The first free roam VR I experienced was Zero Latency in Melbourne back in 2016. It was a 45 minute zombie shooter in a 4000 square foot space. It was EPIC! But at their IAAPA Orlando launch operators told them it would never work, and that their experiences should be about 10 minutes. Takeaway: Don't take advice from people who don't understand your business.

High Occupancy Rates Prove the Model’s Viability

When I am modeling an LBE business, I usually project capacity utilization between 20% and 30% for a full week. Traditional LBE venues will run near capacity on weekends, but they can be like ghost towns during the week. 

Fabien told me that Excurio experiences boast utilization rates at least double the industry average. Obviously weekend sessions frequently sell out, thanks to broad audience appeal. But during the week, senior citizens, tour groups, and even school groups keep the place humming. 

They are also able to run different content simultaneously in the same space. So while one group is experiencing Horizons of Khufu, another might be in Tonight with the Impressionists. Since the spaces are massive, around 10,000 square feet with about 100 people in at once, offering different simultaneous content makes for an extremely efficient operational model. 

Minimal Interactivity, Maximum Engagement

Fabian and I spoke about the delicate balance between interactivity, agency, and throughput. They shunned any interactivity in their earlier experiences as they felt guests would be distracted, slowing down the progress of the story and creating throughput bottlenecks. I told him that my experience with Horizons of Khufu, where I could see my hands being tracked, but there was nothing to do with them, left me a bit confused and frustrated. 

(Note: nobody else seems to care about this as the experiences averages a 4.85 rating on Fever.) 

But he confessed their new experiences are going to introduce more interactivity. Then today, they dropped the news on LinkedIn that their forthcoming title: The Last Stronghold – Carcassonne, 1304, would indeed feature guests "taking part in defending its remparts, mastering the art of combat, and sharing the hopes and doubts of its inhabitants."

He promised that interactivity will always remain in service of storytelling, keeping the experiences accessible to a non-gamers through simple natural and social interactions. 

A Sustainable Business Model for LBE VR

With 21 licensed venues worldwide and the capacity to host up to 120 users in a single session, this large-scale approach offers a sustainable path forward in an industry where throughput is critical. This new breed of free roam VR attractions from Excurio, Univrse, and Small Creative can handle more than 1000 people per day, which takes the pressure of premium ticket prices. 

But that doesn't stop them from getting premium prices. In Atlanta, Horizons of Khufu is getting $36 for weekend adult tickets, and $44 in Manhattan. At 100 users an hour, that's a lot of revenue capacity. The combination of high capacity ensures operators can make hay while the sun is shining on the weekends. And the cultural angle keeps people streaming in during the week.

Over the last decade I have repeatedly watched great creative experiences with no profitable operating models eat up tons of investor capital and throw away years of effort (Heard of The VOID?) If you want more examples head on over to Venice Immersive, or South By Southwest, or any major festival. It's exciting to see some new models emerging that are both profitable and compelling for broad audiences. More please. 

Future Growth and Expanding the Platform

Barati told me that each Excurio title takes two years to create. That's just not fast enough to create a big enough pipeline of content to satisfy location owners. So their plan is to license their platform to encourage third party studios to create content they can distribute to their venues. And it opens up the possibility for independent operators and creators to build their own LBE businesses.

Considering the recent implosion of the video game business, with tens of thousands of layoffs and the shuttering of entire studios, there's no shortage of talent out there that will be looking for the next big thing. When VR arcades started in 2016, game developers frustrated by the slow growth of the consumer VR market turned towards location-based VR. It seems that's about to happen again. 

The Shift from PC VR to Standalone Headsets

I've been fighting the perception that graphics quality is really important for almost a decade. And it won't go away. Excurio recently shifted from PCVR with backpacks to standalone content on HTC VIVE Focus 3 and Vision headsets. I asked him how he felt about that, and what the consumer reaction has been. 

He smiled and admitted that as a creative it pains him to not be able to provide the ultimate visuals with extreme levels of shading, dynamic lighting, and textures. But he went on to say he's also a businessman. And the decision is simple. When it comes to consumers, they're still paying the same price, and giving the same high reviews. 

As I've said for years, if you cannot charge more for PCVR than standalone, the additional cost and friction isn't worth it. Excurio is the first company, to my knowledge, to prove my point. Thank you!

Exciting Times

Due to the developments in the art, cultural, and museum space, I am more excited today about location-based VR than any time since I first strapped on that Zero Latency backpack in Melbourne. I told someone at Dave and Busters about this trend a year ago, and he replied "So I have to become a museum now?" 

That's not the point. The content is irrelevant. It's the operating model that has me excited. The ability to host 30-120 people in 2000 to 10K square feet at prices between $30 and $60 per hour, is a potential goldmine when applied to mainstream entertainment. Don't believe me? We are gonna find out soon enough. 

Black Mirror 

Banijay, the world's largest independent producers of television and multimedia content, announced last week the launch of a new Live Studio to create and produce out-of-home entertainment experiences. Led by Senior Producer Tristan Desplechin, under the leadership of Banijay Live’s CEO, François de Brugada, the studio will look to build a portfolio of brand-new, innovative experiences designed to connect. The label’s first project? A free roam virtual reality experience based on their Netflix blockbuster series, Black Mirror. 

Black Mirror has some of the best sci-fi depictions of what's possible with VR that's ever come out of Hollywood. I've seen the creative brief on the VR experience and it's going to blow people's minds. 

If a major studio generating $4 billion a year in revenue sees the opportunity in location-based VR, maybe it's time to give it another look? Or are you too busy polishing bowling balls and handing out putters?

Join Fabien Barati and the Innovators Creating These New Experiences...

at the VR Arcade and Attraction Summit

Fabien Barati, along with David Bardos from Univrse, Anthony Batt, co-founder of WEVR, and Lou Pizante of the Experientialists will be speaking on the panel The Next Generation of LBE Experiences: Narrative, Immersion, and Interactivity, where he and other industry leaders will discuss how immersive technologies are transforming entertainment.

With traditional cinema facing disruption from streaming and shifting consumer habits, theaters turned to immersive experiences—VR, IMAX, 4DX motion seats, and more—to redefine what a night at the movies looks like. This panel will explore how LBE venues, from theaters to arcades and family entertainment centers, can blend narrative, technology, and interactivity to create must-see immersive experiences for modern audiences.

If you’re in the industry—or just passionate about the future of immersive entertainment—you won’t want to miss this conversation.

Hope to see you there!

With love,

Bob Cooney

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