Local virtual reality arcade is set to expand across Canada this year

VR arcade operator expanding far beyond Waterloo From CTV Kitchener’s Tyler Calver: Ctrl V is planning to take its virtual reality arcade business across the country.

A Waterloo-based tech company is taking the video game world by storm.

Seven months after opening, Ctrl V has experienced an overwhelming response to its virtual reality arcade.

The facility, which is the first of its kind in Canada, has 16 play areas, and for $25 an hour customers can choose from dozens of games, including multi-player options.

“You’re really in the game. You can look around, feel around, touch everything, it’s great,” said company CFO Robert Bruski.

Avid gamer David Brantanec says this isn't just the future of gaming but of home entertainment.

“You hear about it, but its way better than you think,” Brantanec said, after his second trip to the Waterloo location.

“It’s quite a bit better than I expected the first time I came, and the second time hasn’t disappointed either,” he said.

The company is set to expand this year, opening 10 new virtual reality arcade locations across Canada over the next eight months.

Bruski says the rapid growth of virtual reality will only continue to soar.

“We’ve got another location in Guelph, and we’ve got some more opening up in Alberta, Regina, Saskatoon, Lethbridge, Kelowna, Kamloops, Calgary, Red Deer - all over the place,” Bruski said.

He feels strongly that technology will soon allow people to learn new skills.

“I hope and I believe that the concept behind virtual reality will move past gaming and move into education and training and sort of adopt a wider breadth of uses.”

Bruski sees the technology being used as an aid for such things as EMS training to help get first responders accustomed to trauma, or to help people learn to cope with conditions such as vertigo or fear of heights.

The Ctrl V arcade is sold out every weekend.

With more than 12,000 customers, gamers say the experience is well worth the cost.

With reporting by Tyler Calver.