Will Virtual Escape Rooms Be A New Field For Production Companies

Corporate events and production have changed over the last 20 years, dramatically so over the previous two. For many production companies, corporate videos, and live events were the bulk of revenue, with others keeping those sorts of production as lines of business. And in a world with far fewer events, these firms have struggled. 

The seemingly unrelated escape room industry that started to flourish over the late 20teens also took a financial hit when social distancing became a norm. But combining these two industries conceptually may be a lifeline for production companies. 

In 2020 event, companies had to make a hard shift into virtual events. And offering companies a virtual escape room where players work together to find clues and solve puzzles became a viable business model. 

The California Teachers Association has a blog post encouraging teachers to use these virtual experiences with students. But the expectations of a company paying real money to have a virtual escape room as a substitute for a corporate retreat or in-person team building require production expertise and polish.

On YouTube Chris Ramsay shows himself and a team complete a virtual escape room by directing someone live streaming themselves inside of an actual real-world escape room. 

And a YouTuber named The Wong Reviewer made a video showing a more videogame-like escape room. 

But this kind of virtual experience can be tailored and limited only by creativity, technical talent, and budget. Production companies have creativity and technical chops. So I say again, for struggling production companies, virtual escape rooms are a lifeline.