By Riley Kaminer
Get ready to swap your consumer virtual reality headset for a professional VR getup at a new immersive game experience in Wynwood.
Chilean startup InBattle has relocated to Miami to launch its free roaming gaming experience in a new VR arena.
The idea is that players can team up with friends and compete on the digital battlefield. About 3,000 square feet of the 5,000-square-foot Miami location will be devoted to an open space where users can run around and battle each other, all without cables attached.
Players book 45-minute sessions, out of which 30 minutes are devoted to gameplay. There’s enough space for up to two teams with four players each. Users have the option to come play with their friends or meet up with new friends at the location.
“Those 30 minutes of gameplay are going to be very, very intense,” founder and CEO Cristobal Baixas told Refresh Miami. “You’re going to end the 30 minutes wanting to play more – but tired enough to not want to play again right away.”
The game developers will be sitting in an area adjacent to the arena. While the development team is currently made up of two full-time employees, Baixas expects to grow the team to 15 within the next year or so. To administer the game itself, InBattle has already hired a manager and will need another full-time employee, plus somewhere around four part-time team members.
InBattle has partnered with Miami Dade College’s MAGIC program (Miami Animation & Gaming International Complex) in part to secure a pipeline of talent. “We aim to engage with the local community, so partnering with the college immediately came to mind,” said Baixas.
“Working with the MAGIC program was a very good fit,” Baixas continued, noting that the InBattle team acts as mentors for the program. “We hope to let students test their projects in our facilities so they can share them with the world. And we hope to be able to hire from this pool of students as well.”
Baixas has always had an affinity for Miami. But for a while, Miami did not seem like an obvious place for a VR gaming startup. The pandemic changed that.
“Originally, the gaming community in Miami wasn’t that developed and the internet connection wasn’t that good,” said Baixas. “But Mayor Suarez’s initiatives to bring tech people to Miami has made this the right moment to move to Miami.” Baixas also noted that Miami is known for being a city with lots of entertainment opportunities – and InBattle is just another great option.
Miami is just the beginning of InBattle’s ambitious expansion plans. Baixas is planning for the company to expand to 10 other US cities. “That way we can start generating a network of arenas that can compete against each other,” he said. They are also developing an in-home version of the experience. Baixas signaled that he is interested in raising external funds to supercharge this growth later this year.
Key Details
Where: 2818 NW 5th Ave, Miami, FL 33127
When: Opening July 7th
Cost: $45 per person, per session during the week; $50 during the weekend
How long: 45-minute session with 30 minutes of gameplay
Learn more: InBattle.com
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