Readying for the resumption of normal life as foot traffic increases, entertainment company ISA Group (ASX: IDZ) has confirmed it will be launching its fourth virtual reality entertainment centre in one of Sydney’s busiest shopping districts in November 2021. 

The FREAK Entertainment venue will be located in the entertainment section of Macquarie Centre in Sydney, near the cinema, Timezone and premium dining venues. Located there, the venue will benefit from extended trading hours and be easily accessible by trains, buses and the new Sydney metro line. 

Within the venue, ISA Group will offer FREAK’s flagship free roam “Arena”, with games Arizona Sunshine Arena and Ghost Patrol. Both games are exclusive to FREAK in Australia.

Adding to the entertainment option for Sydney-Siders ready to break free from lockdowns, the venue will also include an Assassins Creed themed VR escape room and four VR racing simulators with world leading car racing game Project Cars Pro.

“After a brief pause due to lockdowns, we are excited to continue with the FREAK rollout in line with the company’s strategy, and to have FREAK’s fourth location open in time for the summer holiday period,” said ISA Group CEO, Wayne Jones. 

“We expect the trading to reach record levels as consumers come out of lockdown and enter the school holidays across NSW.” 

To secure their fourth FREAK Entertainment venue, ISA Group has entered into a 5-year lease agreement for the retail space in North Ryde where Macquarie Centre is located within an affluent neighbourhood and right next to Macquarie University. 

The planned opening of this new venue in Sydney continues ISA Group’s push into virtual reality gaming centres having previously focused on its Indoor Skydiving venues. This push was further accelerated earlier in the year when ISA Group acquired VR and 3D production company Red Cartel for $609k last month. 

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.

The extended reality category, a catch-all term covering virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality, is growing rapidly with the market predicted to increase 30x in size to reach USD $905 billion by 2027, from $26 billion in 2020.

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. Shortly after the release of their results, entities related to Jones bought $15k worth of shares on-market, increasing his interest to 10.2% of the Company.