One of the most important aspects in opening a new business is being able to provide an exciting experience, but more so than that, one that prospective customers can’t find anywhere else.
Garrison Wolfe is already an incredibly successful real estate agent in the Upper Ohio Valley, but while out walking his dog one day, he was pondering ways to diversify his revenue stream.
The phrase “ExVRience” popped into his head, and before it could leave his mind he got on the phone with his business partner Cody Coleman and filled him in. From there, the ideas, and planning, began forming at a rapid pace.
The result is the recently opened ExVRience: VR Arcade located just outside of the Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville inside the area where the former J.D. Byrider business was located.
“I’m a huge advocate for VR—I’ve been playing since the original Oculus Rift,” Wolfe said. “I’m a real estate agent, but also a businessman and I was looking for different revenue streams and walking my dog, I was thinking about what could I do to make money.
“I thought of the name and I immediately texted Cody because I knew I’d forget it if I didn’t, but we started drawing up a business plan and how to run this thing immediately.”
ExVRience has been open for roughly three weeks and the response already has been positive.
For the uninitiated, VR or virtual reality gaming requires the use of a headset and hand-held joysticks for the most effective experience because it places the players in an immersive environment that feels incredibly real and lifelike.
Inside ExVRience, you’ll find a large escape room outfitted with enough headsets for five people to play at once. There are a number of games that can be utilized specifically for the escape room.
While totally immersive, Wolfe recommends customers new to VR to get their feet wet playing in the escape room before graduating to the VR booths.
“If you’ve never played VR, I’d suggest the escape room,” Wolfe said. “There’s only one button to press that you use to pick things up and down, and that’s the trigger.
“But our VR booths are incredibly realistic. We use $1,000 Valve Index headsets which are incredibly powerful and they make the PlayStation VR and Oculus headsets seem like toys by comparison.
“It’s incredible quality.”
The library of games being offered is also continuously expanding.
ExVRience recently unveiled Gorn, a gladiator-style simulator made by Free Lives. Another popular title at the VR Arcade is Blade and Sorcery, a medieval-fantasy style game.
Both feature fully physics-driven combat and are just two of the growing library of titles.
Options Now, More Options Later
Looking to further add to the experience, Wolfe and Coleman have purchased a few KAT Walk C 2 Omni-directional style VR treadmills. These come with seats, so when gamers are playing, they can not only experience the VR atmosphere but also 360 degrees of natural movement whilst playing to further add to the immersion.
“These two rooms will be outfitter with the KAT Walks, the ones with the seat option, and we’ll see how things go from there,” Wolfe said. “If we get a good response, we’re looking at purchasing the VR haptic vests, and gun stocks as well, and when you combine that with the treadmill, it’s just straight gaming.
“It’s not cheap, but it’ll be worth it. We can then move the escape room and put four treadmills in the center of the store.”
Wolfe is envisioning gamers playing 2 v 2 battles with the KAT Walks late into the night on weekends and during the summer. The facility is open Tuesday through Thursday 2 p.m. until 9 p.m., open an hour later until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, with modified noon until 4 p.m. on Sunday. It’s closed on Mondays but look for hours to expand as interest booms and the summer months draw nearer.
“I can see 2 v 2 tournaments running late into Saturday nights,” Wolfe said. “During the summer we’ll be expanding our hours and giving people something incredibly fun to do in the summer.”
Giving the public a new option was one of the reasons Wolfe and Coleman pushed to get ExVRience open now before the fall and winter hit.
Now, as it gets colder and the weather turns bad, kids, and yes adults too, looking for something fun and exciting to do can swing by and get in some immersive gaming.
The cost is $35 for an hour of gaming, and $20 for 30 minutes for those wanting to try it out, or on a limited time crunch and want to get in a quick session. Either is worth it.
Presently there is an after-school special running where any student, grade school through college, can come in and receive 25 percent off their playtime purchase. Wolfe plans on running that weekday special for a while.
He’s looking into offering a membership package with discounts and a loyalty program for frequent gamers that offers benefits. The specifics of that are still being ironed out.
Available for Parties and More
ExVRience is available for birthday parties. For $350, the party gets use of the entire facility for four hours, that includes the escape room and five VR booths, plus whatever additions are made in the future.
It’s quite a deal and Wolfe recommends booking now as spots will start filling up quickly as word gets around.
ExVRience is also able to take its show on the road. Wolfe recently worked out a deal with Warwood Middle School to where he and his employees will come to the school and set up four escape rooms inside the gymnasium so the 200-plus students at Warwood Middle can get in on the experience.
Speaking of which, there are educational-style simulations too that can be played for schools looking to add something different to their science-class experience.
And speaking of hitting the road, Wolfe said they are also looking to expand into the mobile gaming market by outfitting vans able to take the VR experience on the road.
They are working with a company that has multiple RPG-style games, also similar to Call of Duty Zombies where you can defend a room, as well as escape rooms. But these vans will be spec’d out to take the VR show on the road, either to parties, or festivals, or events.
They will have a special canopy and with say 20 by 20 feet of space, VR gaming can be brought to just about any location. lol
It’s all part of Wolfe’s and Coleman’s plans to bring an exciting, incredible and, most importantly, new experience to casual to hardcore gamers alike throughout the Ohio Valley.
It’s a one-of-a-kind store and experience here locally. It’s definitely worth a look.
