The COVID-19 crisis hit most tech companies hard, but it buried Sandbox VR. From a report: “We went from a relatively healthy business,” CEO Steve Zhao said, “to zero revenue.” Sandbox was operating 10 VR centers in North America and Asia that allowed groups of customers to step into virtual worlds. Every one had to close due to shelter-in-place orders. “Literally, 100% of the revenue is gone,” Zhao said. At the end of April, Sandbox laid off 80% of its staff. Among the departures were then-CEO Siqi Chen and many of the company’s key developers. Left with a skeleton crew of 20, Zhao is now trying to figure out not only how to reopen existing locations but survive. “We have to rethink our strategy,” he said. Sandbox VR is not alone in its struggles. Numerous operators of VR centers and arcades, including The Void, Dreamscape, Zero Latency and Spaces, have been forced to shut down their retail locations amid the pandemic and are now facing major financial and logistical challenges. It’s an abrupt change of fate for an industry that just months ago was seen as a pivotal booster of VR, and heralded by some as the future of theme parks and other forms of location-based entertainment.
of this story at Slashdot.
Source:: Slashdot