Mayor’s Office of London has appointed local gaming startup Microgravity to establish an augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) gaming arena in the city.
The deal is expected to be finalised within the next two weeks, according to Rahul Bhattacharya, managing director of Microgravity, in a recent interview.
“We have received an expression of interest from a London-based fund to set up a gaming hub similar to our offering in Gurugram, Haryana — in London. We are raising £1.5 million with a London-based real estate investment trust (REIT) for this project.”
“The business and economy wing of the London mayor’s office contacted us, and appointed London & Partners to help us find the right location and funds for setting up the facility,” Microgravity’s Bhattacharya, elaborated.
London & Partners is a non-profit public-private partnership (PPP) company founded in 2011 by former London mayor Boris Johnson that seeks promotional partnerships to drive job creation and economic growth in the city.
Bhattacharya stated that construction on the facility will begin in January 2022, with the facility expected to be operational in London by July 2022.
Microgravity provides physical AR/VR gaming arenas and has an outlet in Gurugram. It is not, however, the only one. Zero Latency VR, an Australian startup, operates the same-named AR/VR gaming hub in Mumbai suburbs, offering a VR shootout arena where up to eight players can play simultaneously — among other games. Zero Latency is based in Mumbai and is run in collaboration with an Indian entrepreneur.
To be sure, Smaaash, India’s decade-old gaming centre, has shifted its focus to offer some elements of AR/VR experiences in its centres across the country.
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