Arizona Sunshine developer and A Fisherman’s Tale publisher Vertigo Games has acquired VR arcade software company, SpringboardVR.
Neither group disclosed the value of the sale. For the past few years, SpringboardVR operated a subscription-based management platform for VR arcades with software that allows users to choose from a range of officially licsensed titles. As they play, arcade owners are able to set how long the customer can use the platform among other aspects. Springboard charged $30 a month for use of its platform, with discounts available for multiple stations within an arcade.
A press release confirms that this service will continue to run under Vertigo’s ownership, with several of the team members joining the company. Vertigo itself has its own arcade business under which it’s distributed an arcade version of Arizona Sunshine and unique games like Corsair’s Curse and Ghost Patrol VR, which was announced last year.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced major challenges for the VR arcade industry, with most locations having remained closed for the better part of a year now. Vertigo — which itself was acquired by Koch Media in 2020 — has continued to support the sector, even offering relief packages over the course of the last year. Even with vaccines now rolling out across the world, it remains to be seen when it will be safe for VR arcades to fully reopen.
Other founders of SpringboardVR are moving on to start a new company, ArborXR, which offers software to streamline VR and AR enterprise use cases.
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