There is a popular misconception that laser tag is a bit old hat and a game that people don't tend to play anymore. When, in actual fact, the game, which is more commonly known as Quasar or LaserQuest, is more popular than ever and is one of the few areas of the leisure industry that hasn't suffered at the hands of the recession.

Evidence of its continued popularity can be found in the success of UK-based Q2000, which has served the industry for over 18 years, going from strength to strength in this time and, according to company founder Steven Jennings, business has only ever grown.

"Business has never dipped," he told InterGame. "Many people think the game is old-fashioned because they’ve not seen it for a long time, but this is because it is targeted at children. They see it when they are a child then don’t see it again until they have children themselves. It is just as new to their children as it was to them 20 years or so ago."

Jennings has been involved in the laser tag industry since the early 90s, managing one of the first Quasars in England, one in Spain and another in London. After working closely with Quasar he realised that while it was interested in selling large systems, it had a bad reputation for supporting those systems. This was instrumental in Jennings starting Meno Electronics, when he was just 21 years old, in response.

"We started out as an independent support company to Quasar’s operators but soon started selling reconditioned equipment and then moved on to implementing software upgrades," said Jennings. "All this happened in 1997, around the same time as Q-Zar, the now US-owned parent of Quasar, filed for bankruptcy, so we bought a large amount of equipment, put our software in and branded it up as Q2000."

Q2000, which employs just four people, has since firmly established itself on the international scene with strong customers in the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the US and has done business as far as Japan and Thailand.

"I think the key to our success is the level of support we offer," said Jennings. "We offer phone and email support for life for no extra cost - so if you bought a system from us 15 years ago and it fails, you can get in contact with us for free technical support. We want our product to be working properly when a prospective buyer or child goes to the location."

Q2000 is now operational in 32 locations in the UK and Ireland and the only operator to have a system in central London, one near Canary Wharf and another at the world-famous Trocadero, which opened in August 2010.

"Trocadero is a very important location for us," said Jennings. "Because of the rental costs no-one wants to open anything in the capital, meaning sites that are there can be very profitable - because there’s nowhere to play laser tag and people living in central London don’t want to drive half an hour out of London. Quasar had a site in the Trocadero in the 90s and because it attracts tourists from around the world, it went on to sell probably about 50 per cent of its future sites on the back of people visiting
that site."

With just four employees, 32 locations in the UK and Ireland alone might sound like a challenge. However, Q2000 encourages location operators to manage and service the systems themselves and a lot of the locations are on a profit sharing scheme, which in these difficult trading conditions is proving very popular with customers. "We put the equipment in, do all the training and update training, deal with the spare parts and so on and then we take a small percentage of the gross profit through the door," said Jennings.

"This set-up is proving really popular with both static and soft play customers, as people won’t generally commit to spending large amounts of money without confidence in the product.? By doing it this way, it shows our confidence in the product as we’re taking the risk with them and putting our money where our mouth is."

As far as changes in the market go, for Jennings not a whole lot has happened as far as technology goes, up until now. When InterGame spoke to Jennings, he was in the midst of developing the company’s latest system Genesis and was hoping to show it at the LIW show in Birmingham. "This is a high-end product and we’ve spent a lot of time and money on it," he said.

"Our concept is to make laser tag similar to the online gaming experience: a kind of Laser Tag meets Xbox Live. Genesis will enable new players to understand the game play and terminology more easily. The total process of designing the Genesis system has been like designing a mainstream console game. We have used 2D concept artists to design an array of guns, 3D artists to produce realistic computer graphics and professional voiceover actors for the vast array of variable audio feedback.

"The new gun design features a large colour display similar to what you would see on a modern smart phone. The gun features a well-designed GUI (graphical user interface) comparable to what you would see on Nintendo DS. The arena devices are able to drive large LCD screens and share the gun’s ability to play back full video graphics."

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Jennings continued: "We have designed the Genesis system from the ground up, utilising all the feedback we have received over the last 18 years. For example, the game control software includes a membership database and EPOS system (electronic point of sale). A member of staff can now book a game, take payment for that game and even sell food or merchandise from any of the terminals in your centre. A terminal doesn’t have to be a PC, the new software can be controlled from a smart phone or even an iPad, allowing a marshal to control the game from any location. The Genesis system is so flexible that terminals can use any operating system, Mac OSX, Windows or Linux."

While the main demographic for laser tag is children’s parties, there is room for growth within the sector and according to Jennings it is a shame that operators aren’t tapping into the corporate market as the potential for extra earnings is there.

"The corporate side of the business used to be quite big but operators these days are just seeing the children’s parties at between £10-15 per head - two games and a meal. It’s great revenue," he said. "But if operators were to hire an actor/actress, someone who can converse and has the skills to look after corporate parties, once or twice a week, they could charge twice as much and generate business mid-week when times are quieter. All they would need to do is put on some decent food and offer the chance of winning a bottle of champagne. Sadly though, no-one seems to be looking at this option."

The good thing about laser tag is that it can be whatever the operator wants it to be, an anchor or a support product. Tenpin operates 15 Q2000 systems within its UK-based bowling chain. Tenpin installed five new systems in late 2008 because, according to Jennings, the company realised that laser was a great partnership to what they already have and it brings in additional funds.

"For the space it takes up and what it earns, it is a great product. I think laser tag is somewhere in between an anchor and support product - it depends on what else is in the location. We’ve put laser back into locations where it has previously been pulled out, another indication that the game is doing well."

Looking forward it would seem the future is definitely bright for Q2000 and the opportunities for laser tag continue to grow worldwide. "With our new system Genesis, which features groundbreaking technology for the sector, we have the potential to grow even more worldwide and we’re always on the lookout for experienced and established distributors," said Jennings.

"We’ve got the experience, the credentials and hope to really conquer the market with this product as we see it appealing to existing customers who have weathered the storm and are now looking for something new, as well as new ones."