DIABLO ESCAPES – WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA

“When I was growing up, I went to Disneyland a lot. I went there like, 20 times by my 20th birthday.”

But Nazar Yousif, owner of Diablo Escapes, sees a change in location-based entertainment.

“People are looking for things closer to home to do that are as innovative and as amazing as what Disneyland was, those years ago,” he says. “And I think virtual reality is going to be that thing.”

Diablo Escapes had actually intended to start with physical escape rooms in May 2020 with VR coming later. Of course, once February rolled around and the COVID-19 pandemic hit? Plans changed. At first it was just a delay, but as it became clear that the pandemic would affect business for more than just a few months, they pivoted.

Building out multiple physical escape rooms in those conditions would be difficult, and they knew they wouldn’t get much upfront notice from the county on when they could open. But VR rooms allowed them to get ready without investing too much. They’d planned for two VR rooms, so they got them ready, bought the hardware, and were ready to open two weeks after the green light.

“It didn’t take much to do the final things that we needed to do to open the doors. Our website could show that we had at the time six different adventures available right away. So that was big.

“It gave people a good feeling. You know, when you have an escape room and you have several different adventures, it feels like it’s a major venue.”

Diablo has space for two VR rooms and two physical rooms that are still coming. But in a tough time for entertainment businesses, the ability to get up and running with VR while investing very little made it so that he could open his doors and start generating revenue.

The PCVR Choice

While many operators these days opt for the simplicity and lower cost of standalone headsets, Nazar decided to go for a high-end option.

“Our thinking, since we live in an area where we have folks that are fairly affluent, they’re expecting sort of the best. And we wanted to make sure that we offered the highest quality VR experience that we could offer.

“At the time, that included using backpack computers with RTX 2080 cards in them, to make sure we got the best quality we could get. So we went with backpacks to get that real high quality.”

Using backpack PCs, or streaming PCVR from desktops to headsets like the VIVE Focus 3 or VIVE Focus Vision, does come at a higher upfront cost and with a more technically complex installation. But that’s what Diablo Escapes intentionally selected for their Walnut Creek location, and it’s worked out well.

“People really are astounded by what it looks like when they’re in one of the vrCAVE games. The detail that vrCAVE has put into the textures, the lighting, reflections, the way fire looks. It’s incredible, and customers comment on that.”

Has the added cost harmed the return on investment? Not really. It’s been a quick turnaround from purchase to profit.

“So your return on investment with regard to setting up your VR room is going to be different based on the equipment you choose. If you choose higher end equipment, it’s going to take a little longer to recover that. But really not that long. If you’re doing well on your marketing and you’re bringing people in — we essentially became profitable on a monthly basis in the fifth month, I would say.”

Getting The Marketing Right

Along the way, Diablo Escapes has done well with that marketing. Nazar puts it down, broadly, to two things: good SEO, and good word of month.

When it comes to SEO, there are plenty of playbooks out there. Have a well-designed, well-organized website that hits the right keywords for your area to ensure that it shows up on relevant search queries. Sometimes, however, word of mouth can feel like a mystery. How do you get people just talking about your business?

At Diablo Escapes, it’s about providing an excellent experience for guests. 

“It definitely involves having exceptional games, but it also involves, you know, greeting them at the door when they come in, being pleasant with them, being excited with them because they came here to have a lot of fun. It’s not something they do every day. and it’s kind of like going to Disneyland.

“You’re here to just really enjoy yourself. and we try to keep that going so even though they’re walking in with smiles, having that expectation that they walk out with even bigger smiles.”

That approach has delivered what many entertainment businesses consider the most important thing: positive reviews.

“You look at Diablo Escapes reviews here on Walnut Creek, you’ll find that they’re pretty much all five stars. They’re all legitimate reviews, and it takes a while to get there but once you have them, it really convinces a lot of people to come.”

Virtual Reality For Any Town

Nazar believes that society’s expectations on entertainment availability are changing. People want amazing experiences closer to home — and they can get them, too. What was once only available as part of a special trip to LA or Orlando can now be done in any building with a bit of space, in any town. It’s something people everywhere want, and it’s something businesses everywhere can do.

“It’s definitely an opportunity. It’s early enough that very few people out there are doing it or have experienced it. but it’s late enough that the technology right now is rock solid. It’s not like you have to wait for anything now. This is really the best time to get into it.

“We still get customers that haven’t experienced escape rooms or never done VR, and they have a blast. And that speaks to not just how well the games are designed, but how well they appeal to all ages really.”

Wondering if you could make this work for your community? vrCAVE’s VR escape rooms just require 17’ x 20’ and are available in seven languages. If you already have the space? You could be operational in as little as a week.

“There’s so many cities that don’t have this kind of an entertainment venue that would really benefit from it. People love it, and it’s not just techie people or people that are into escape rooms: it’s a wide variety of people. And we’re just going to see it grow.”

Want in? Contact vrCAVE today and we’ll help you get set up for success just like Diablo Escapes.