Player Ready Plymouth

Recruitment in Partnership

29th September 2021

Kaya Gallery

29th September 2021

Published by on 29th September 2021

Immerse yourself into the world of virtual reality and find yourself in an escape room on the night of Chernobyl or fighting off zombies in the latest zombie apocalypse game. With an 8 player VR setup with over 60 games, four VR motion Racing Simulators plus a 6 player Xbox console zone and a VR free roam area, Player Ready Plymouth is here to welcome you into the terrifying, funny and exhilarating world of make-believe. We spoke to Kieran, area manager of all three Player Ready stores, to find out more about this futuristic experience.

VR is an experience like no other where you are transported to somewhere completely surreal that genuinely feels like real life. Whatever you know of your surroundings before putting on the headset is completely disregarded as you feel yourself quivering in fear in an escape room or feeling the adrenalin running through your veins whilst racing your friends on a racetrack.

Player Ready have three stores across the South, the original in Truro which opened in 2019, one in Plymouth, another in Portsmouth opened in 2020 and a planned store is opening in Taunton in October. Player Ready originally began in Redruth, Cornwall by Stephen Parkinson in July 2018. Since then, they have grown in success and have been able to move to a larger store in Truro and set up two others along the coast in Portsmouth and Plymouth. They are currently searching for franchise partners to be able to open more stores across the UK and expand the Player Ready community.

Up until February 2020, Kieran was working for the large gaming corporation, Game, in the centre of Plymouth before being made redundant due to a store closure. Luck was soon on Kieran’s side as shortly after, he was made area manager for Player Ready and hasn’t looked back since.

Opening the Plymouth store in February 2020 came with a few problems, the main problem being the covid-19 pandemic which meant they had to shut as soon as they were open. Fortunately, Kieran and the staff were able to receive furlough payment, and the time off meant they could update their software, regiment the business and get everything running smoothly before they were able to re-open again. It was reassuring to hear that the company really care about their staff as they were offered counselling during the lockdown to help them with their
mental health.

Now that the lockdowns and restrictions have been lifted for the time being, Player Ready Plymouth has been growing from strength to strength with exciting new expansion plans including opening Player Ready Pathfinders, an academy of sorts, teaching young people coding, game creation and fun activities after school.

Most people have access to gaming abilities and VR from the comfort of their own home, so why should you come to Player Ready Plymouth? You can enjoy a nice meal at home so why go to a restaurant? It’s all about the social experience involved in gaming that makes this place so unique. Often, you game by yourself on a multiplayer game with your friends but it is unlikely you are playing together in the same room and interacting at the same level. As well as the social element, they also have access to 60+ games with advanced content only accessible through authorised locations and not at home. Player Ready Plymouth has 8 VR stations, 4 VR racing simulators, a 6 person Xbox console room and all of the equipment is state of the art and the VR areas are designed for safe use with marked tape boundaries so that you don’t walk anywhere dangerous.

VR Motion Racing Simulator

VR offers another level of gaming that is 10x more immersive than a standard console. Gaming often receives a negative review as it can be considered anti-social and requires minimal physical movement. However, Player Ready is there to connect like-minded individuals, enhance conversational skills, spend time with family and friends and ultimately have fun. Player Ready is open to everyone from ages 7+ looking for a new activity to try together which can involve competition or team work. An experience which young and old can find pleasure in and especially good for a family with a mix of ages.

Some VR games can be very physically demanding, one game, in particular, can burn 450 calories! They are also very inclusive to people with mobility issues who may not be able to take part in physical activities; as soon as they put the headset on, it can be a very freeing experience.

A Player Ready VR escape room can take you up the International Space Station or to the story of Alice in Wonderland and 10 more exclusive escape rooms, something that cannot be done in a traditional escape room. They can also push the boundaries of technology and take more risks resulting in a more tense, terrifying or magical experience. As opposed to a standard escape room, you can only have one or two different set ups depending on the size of the building however, their VR areas are multi-functional and can be changed with just the touch of a button.

6 player Xbox console zone

An hour of gameplay on a VR headset will cost you £25pp with an added discount for groups of 4. If you’d like to try an escape room, that will cost you £20pp per hour.

Parties and corporate events are welcome here for groups of up to 25 people or groups of 18 for everybody to be playing something at the same time. You can hire out the entire venue for £250 for 2 ½ hours with soft drinks, snacks and photos included.

Kieran’s favourite part of his job is selling people fun and watching his customers laugh, scream and jump their way through an experience on a VR headset. Two of those customers were myself and Myles as we got to play Richie’s Plank experience at the interview. You can never quite prepare yourself for the feeling of walking out onto a plank at the top of a skyscraper on a windy day with giant tarantulas crawling up the building and the fear of falling off the edge (which in reality was two inches off the floor). I kid you not, I was shaking! And we both agreed we would love to come back and experience the bazaar concept again with the whole office.

To book your VR adventure, head to their website www.player-ready.co.uk/plymouth and fill out the booking form. Alternatively, you can send them a Facebook message, give them a call or email them using the details below.