Some have framed it as a kind of revenge trend as we work our way through the 2020s, while others see it more as a realisation that in-person and live experiences can complement and enhance purely digital options. Whatever the case is, location-based entertainment is on the rise, and it shows no signs of stopping.
According to market reports, these entertainment options are set to continue to grow across the next eight years. In some instances, we’ve seen classic forms of live entertainment embrace new technologies, and in others, whole new formats of entertainment venues have emerged. Seeing this trend emerge, the digital arenas that had ruled in this space have upped the ante to try to create even more immersive and convenient options.
Total immersion has become the ultimate selling point to masses, creating a kind of push and pull between digital platforms and live venues. Here’s where tech is being applied to increase immersion, the live formats that are pushing the trend onwards, and just how valuable market predictions see location-based entertainment becoming. 
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Leveraging Tech for Greater Digital Immersion
There’s always been a wall between what we experience through devices or online and what we experience in the real world. While digital offerings can’t replicate much beyond vision and audio, they can create new ways of seeing the world, transport you into a different world, or blur the lines between the online and real-world experience. The reality technologies – augmented, virtual, and mixed – are driving this new space of digital immersion.
We can see this emerging through several dedicated apps and hardware offerings. For example, when travelling, tailored AR apps now have the ability to take you on a self-guided tour and present pop-ups in your language that highlight key points of interest. So, from your phone and a set of earphones, you can get in-depth knowledge and easily spot where you can take a break, have a coffee, or buy a souvenir.
Augmented reality is very much a digital supplement to a real-world experience, while virtual reality is all about immersing you in a digital space. Popular locations from around the world are already being replicated in this new arena. Accessed by a VR headset and associated accessories, such as the Oculus kit, from home, you can dive into a replication of somewhere else in the world while your vision and hearing is totally surrounded by the experience.
It presents an opportunity to skip massive lines, not need to spend hours or days travelling, and still get to experience the greatest sights of the world in person and with others. More and more, real-world experience and venues are being ported to this emerging space of the metaverse. While it is the most immersive way to enter the digital world right now, the hardware being wearable and the price points do present barriers for many.
Even so, the pursuit for increased immersion online continues to be of great importance. Live streaming has only grown in popularity over the last decade, particularly because of its ability to offer real-time viewing of an activity. Where the technology has been taken that bit much further is at the bingo sites in UK circles. There’s always been real-time play in the bingo rooms. With live streaming, however, the unfolding of a physical game like roulette or baccarat can be watched in the moment and bet on between rounds. It blurs the lines between physical and online play.
Location-Based Entertainment Offering Total Immersion
Back in 2018, a new way to watch films hit the headlines. Complete with water sprays, scented air, and shaking seats, the age of 4DX seemingly arrived for the cinema experience. Leicester Square played host to one of these special screenings for the film Rampage, but as you’ll know, this advancement on 3D cinema didn’t exactly become mainstream. In 2024, however, 4DX bounced back for select screenings of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
This revival was a clear sign of cinemas seeing the trend of people wanting to be even more immersed in their entertainment, beyond the massive screen, booming audio, and pitch black surroundings. However, where location-based entertainment has truly taken off is in the more novel experiences that barely existed during that initial outing of 4DX.
Escape rooms have become a staple of the city entertainment venue landscape. In each, a team of people is placed into a themed room, tasked with working out a selection of puzzles to enable their escape. It’s a challenge, and those who don’t immerse themselves often come up short. Like escape rooms, VR experience venues have jumped in popularity, owing to them offering massive immersion through new tech but at a more manageable price point.
You could also look to what seems to be an increasingly prominent part of the Halloween slate. Mazes, walkthroughs, and live experiences specifically tailored to give audiences a fright boast a tremendous amount of appeal. Fort Amherst Halloween Horrors, Scaresville, the Scare Maze, and Scream Factory are just a few UK examples. In Las Vegas, the Universal Horror Unleashed experience is a permanent fixture now.
A Market on the Rise for the Next Several Years
While market reports and forecasts are rarely completely accurate, they do relay positive trends very well. Location-based entertainment is doing so well that estimates are grading it as a rapidly growing market. The most recent figures point to a compound annual growth rate of over 28 per cent from 2025 to 2030. With the market already at US$5.63 billion last year, this would put its 2030 market size at close to US$26 billion.
The larger market is seen as having three major shareholders in terms of where and how people are engaging with location-based entertainment. Hardware suppliers, amusement parks making use of immersive technologies, and the end-use of 3D technology all make up a substantial share of their respective elements. Further, while North America is the largest market, it only makes up a third of the market, showing the global appeal of this growing scene.
Increasingly, people want to go out for an experience. Spurred on by the effort of offerings to increase the immersion, location-based entertainment continues to rise. As it does, digital platforms are battling to compete, creating new ways to be conveniently immersed in new worlds and experiences from home.