Adam and Megan Schmidt, owners of one of Canada’s most successful escape room businesses, saw a need for an active gaming concept with replayable elements. What started as a vision, working nights in their backyard shed, redirecting their creative teams, and dedicating countless nights, led to perfecting the world’s first active gaming facility – Activate. Their first location opened in 2019 in Winnipeg, Canada. Fast forward five years and Activate now boasts over 35 locations across Canada, the U.S., and Dubai, with 10 additional sites under construction and even more thrilling locations set to open worldwide soon!
Activate is innovative in several key ways
Blending Physical Activity with Tech-Driven Gaming: Activate combines physical challenges, such as agility, speed, and strategy, with immersive, technology-enhanced gaming. Players interact with walls, floors, and sensors that respond to their movements, offering a gaming experience that is both active and engaging.
Replayability and Dynamic Challenges:
Using RFID technology, each player’s progress is tracked, allowing for personalization and replayability. This dynamic approach ensures that no two gaming sessions are the same, encouraging players to return and experience new challenges, levels, and achievements.
Immersive Team-Based and Competitive Gameplay:
Activate creates an environment where teamwork is essential. Players work together to complete challenges, fostering communication, problem-solving, and collaboration in a fun, interactive setting. If cooperative isn’t for you, switch to competitive mode and let the battle begin.
Data-Driven Experience:
Activate tracks players’ individual and team performance in real-time, offering instant feedback, rankings, and metrics. This feature enhances the competitiveness of the experience, as participants can monitor their progress and aim to improve their scores or unlock new levels. Players can monitor their program live on the leaderboard, or sign in to wall monitors to view their stats live.
Interactive Environments:
The facility itself is part of the game. Activate’s game rooms are filled with touch-sensitive surfaces, pressure pads, and other responsive technologies that react to players’ movements, making the physical space an integral part of the gameplay.
Game Development, Manufacturing, and Support:
All of Activate’s games are developed in-house, ensuring complete control over quality and innovation. Each game room is manufactured at their Canadian facility, allowing for seamless collaboration between engineering and production. When a new game room is introduced or an existing one is improved, updates can be implemented instantly with a push of a button. If a technical issue arises, Activate’s Tech Support can quickly identify and resolve the problem, ensuring uninterrupted gameplay and no missed experiences for players.
Expansion and Global Vision:
With plans to expand to international locations like Dubai and London, Activate is continuously evolving, bringing its innovative concept to new markets. Its success across North America and beyond demonstrates its ability to innovate and adapt.
These elements make Activate stand out as a cutting-edge entertainment experience that goes beyond traditional escape rooms or laser tag arenas by merging fitness, technology, and immersive entertainment.
