Gamers have been throwing around cinematic experience before but now its become a bit more accessible with cinemas now making their venues available for gamers to offset losses from the pandemic. BBC featured recently that with South Korean cinemas allowed to operate at only 50% capacity, its been hard to get business rolling which has made them turn to gamers for a new revenue stream.
The sound quality is particularly amazing Eui Jeong Lee
The photo above shows us South Korean gamers playing in branch of CGV, the largest South Korean cinema chain. One of the gamers, Eui Jeong Lee comments on how amazing the audio is and I have to agree, a good cinema with good audio will really dial up the experience to a new level.
From a business perspective, this sounds like a good idea, with CGV’s rental price starting at $90 (around Php4300) for 2 hours until 6pm. Evening prices go up to around $135 (Php6400) for 2 hours. This does not include prices for console and controllers as customers will need to bring their own, along with their game. The price does net you a fully airconditioned 100- to 200-seat cinema with only your friends. Computing for the local Philippine cost of a movie house, say around Php250, a 100-seat venue makes around Php25,000 per screening and double that for a 200-seat venue, provided they are filled to the max.
That said, this means that this business model isn’t as lucrative as regular screening which includes sales from concessions as well but expenses for a screening also factors in fees for the screening rights. With only electricity and space the predominant expense for this model, it does open up some space for other concessions.
In the South Korean scene, the cinemas are being treated as a hideout and is referred as “Azit-X” from the Korean word “azit” which translates to hideout. Much like a mancave or gamer den, South Korean gamers in their 30s and 40s have started using the service since the start of the year. CGV reports they have been booked for this service for 130 times as of writing. Calculating 130 bookings for the minimum price and hours would’ve have given the cinema at least $11,700 in revenue from the gamer rentals alone. CGV also comments that families have started partaking in the cinema gaming experience as well.
BBC reporter Je Seung Lee goes on to detail the cinema gaming experience and the cinema industry during the pandemic in the piece which you can read more here.
On a more technical perspective, this may suit console games more than PC gamers given that projectors may not have the same high-frequency display capabilities as their screens. Still, for platformers and cinematic AAA titles, this may work provided you can lug your cable all the way to the projector booth. Sitting back with your non-scalper PS5 would be a good way to enjoy this rare luxury if ever more cinemas start adopting them.
I personally would like to experience this as well but I have bigger dreams hohoho
