BYU-Idaho Radio · New Virtual Reality Arcade Opens In Rexburg
A new business in Rexburg is looking to provide entertainment in a new way.
The Veld opens today, and the business advertises itself as a “virtual reality arcade.” Sky Holmgren, the owner of The Veld, said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio that the business will have a lot to offer.
“It will be a place where people can bring their friends and play virtual reality games together. We’ve got laser tag, paintball, escape rooms, Beat Saber, rock climbing and all sorts of things,” he said.
Holmgren said he and his wife love VR games. Holmgren’s brother-in-law and sister-in-law bought an Oculus Quest, and since then, their whole family has been having fun playing games in a different world.
“After falling in love with it, we looked in town to see if there were other places offering VR experiences. There were a few, but we didn’t feel like they were reaching their full potential, so we wanted to create a place that not only offered that great VR experience, but also introduced multiplayer so that you could bring your friends,” Holmgren said.
He said this experience is a new and great experience that pushes the boundaries of video games.
“The first time you play VR, it blows your mind. You don’t know where you are anymore. It transfers you into a whole new world,” Holmgren said. “My wife and I are more physically active as well, so we felt it was a better experience to sitting on the couch. You get to be up and moving.”
Holmgren said The Veld will have enough systems to provide entertainment for a whole group of people.
“We have 12 headsets right now with plans to extend to 16 in the near future. So you can come in with a group of four, a group of 8, a group of 12, and we can put you all into the same game so you can play with your friends,” he said.
In the future, Holmgren said they plan to host competitive VR tournaments as well, with the grand prize being a new Oculus Quest 2.
The Veld opens today, and you can find more info on their website theveldvr.com, or you can check out their Facebook page.