With just a few more weeks until school holidays for most students in Sydney, virtual reality entertainment company ISA Group (ASX: IDZ) has opened its newest location in Sydney just in time for the Christmas period which also includes their newest VR game – FREAK Drive.
The newest FREAK entertainment venue is located in Macquarie Centre, one of the busiest shopping centres in Sydney. The timing of the opening is ideal for ISA Group too with national vaccination rates surpassing 90% and Sydney-siders out in full, seeking to indulge in all forms of entertainment they couldn’t do throughout the year.
“After a brief pause due to Covid, it is great to be able to bring Freak Entertainment to Macquarie Centre in time for the holidays,” said ISA Group CEO, Wayne Jones.
“The high demand for our products in major shopping centres continues to increase and we look forward to announcing the next location to be opened in early 2022.”
Macquarie Centre is the fourth virtual reality entertainment centre opened by ISA Group and is located in the entertainment district of the shopping centre near cinemas and dining.
Alongside the opening, ISA has also launched the newest game under the FREAK banner, FREAK Drive – a motor racing simulator with ultra realistic racing simulation.
With up to 4 players racing together at any one time, FREAK Drive encapsulates 80 major circuits from around the world in over 170 real world races and street cars to offer the next level of arcade racing with augmented reality.
The circuits have been laser scanned into the game providing extreme accuracy of the tracks, with the physical simulators providing full motion allowing players to feel acceleration, braking and cornering.
FREAK Macquarie also features the FREAK’s flagship free roam VR “Arena”, with games Arizona Sunshine Arena and Ghost Patrol as well as Assassins Creed themed VR escape rooms and a VR Arcade.
Over the coming weeks, FREAK Drive will also be rolled out at ISA’s virtual reality gaming venues in Penrith and Bondi, in time for the school holidays.
Despite massive headwinds where ISA Group was hampered by lockdowns throughout FY21, the Company reported a 45% increase in revenue to $7.6m with net profit after tax of $4m.
IDZ shares have enjoyed strong gains over the past month with the Company set to be big beneficiaries of the national vaccination rates exceeding 90%. Many Australians have never experienced VR gaming due to the massive strides made in its tech since the start of the pandemic.
Pending shareholder approval at their upcoming AGM, ISA Group will be re-named eXtended Reality Group with the proposed ticker code change to ASX: XRG.
Extended Reality (XR) will be the core driver of the Company’s growth in the coming years having acquired leading in-house game development and broader interest in XR forecasts around the world. ISA estimates the XR category of gaming, entertainment and training to increase 30x in size between now and 2027.
This includes work ISA is doing with the Australian and US Special Forces where they are developing XR tech that will train participants to be “defence ready”.
IDZ shares responded well to news of FREAK Macquarie’s opening to reach a high of $0.059 in early morning trade, a 31% rise on their previous $0.045 close.
Alfred Chan is a Business Reporter at The Sentiment specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies, a bloodstock enthusiast and former equities analyst.
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