An immersive world

From Dead & Company’s extended residency at Sphere in Las Vegas to Puy du Fou’s SAGA City of Light in Shanghai, 2024 brought confirmation of the growing influence of immersive experiences in live entertainment – and there is plenty more to come in 2025.

As delegates at TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Summit 2024 heard, London’s hugely popular Abba Voyage is going from strength to strength, having pulled in more than two million visitors since its launch in 2022 and generated a jaw-dropping £1.4bn ($1.47bn) for the UK economy so far. 

Down the road, Jeff Wayne’s The War of The Worlds: The Immersive Experience extended its London run for another six months until September 2025, having initially anticipated it would last for just three months when it launched way back in 2019.

Meanwhile, anticipation is building for Elvis Evolution, another show supported by Layered Reality, ahead of its opening at London Excel’s new Immerse LDN entertainment district in May.

High-tech innovations

Like many immersive events across arts, theatre, music and sport, Elvis Evolution will be supported by compelling generative AI to augmented reality. These technological innovations have played a big role in enticing customers, many of whom have increasingly familiarised themselves with such technological advancements in their everyday lives.

However, defining the immersive entertainment space by technology alone would fail to grasp fully the scale of the opportunity. 

Given this, the Immersive Experience Network (IEN), founded in 2022 to support immersive creatives, performed an admirable task this year by taking steps to identify the various genres of “live/location-based immersive experience”, bringing some much-needed clarity to the sector. From location-based virtual and augmented reality to standalone scare attractions, live-action role-playing, immersive theatre, art and audio, the space is bursting with potential.

New audiences

Furthermore, there appears to be immense potential for engaging younger attendees through immersive events.

According to IEN’s latest Immersive Audience Report, half of British immersive audiences are under the age of 34, while those who attend immersive events are more than twice as likely to be non-white as those who engage in traditional arts.

They are also more likely to be geographically diverse, according to the report. This is backed up by examples like Abba Voyage, with nearly half of the non-ticket spending on the show coming from UK residents outside London, and over 40% from international visitors.

Dr Joanna Bucknall, a University of Birmingham lecturer in the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts who co-founded the IEN, stated recently: “Public demand just seems to be insatiable for this kind of thing. What audiences say is that it’s about having an experience that’s communal; that’s with other people. I think that’s what people really crave, especially post-COVID.”

Future challenges

It is clear though that major challenges lie ahead in 2025 and beyond.

Bucknall cites financing and difficulties in securing affordable venues, with some shows relying on commercial brand activation, while practical issues are also common. For instance, strict health and safety requirements still have to be met by immersive shows even if they are not staged in traditional theatres, with toilets and fire alarms installed in pop-up spaces.

Bucknall also believes more support is needed from the government by, for example, broadening the UK’s theatre tax relief scheme to include immersive productions. “There are so many art forms now operating in this space which need support and would go under without it,” she added.

If emerging immersive events do gain a foothold and become sustainable, the benefits could be substantial for the wider economy.

“Immersive arts could be the solution to some of the big societal problems of high street regeneration. So, we would ask the government to bring us to the table in some of those discussions,” Bucknall said. 

 “Immersive art is an important part of the UK economy. So, the government would be wise to start to find ways of allowing it to flourish.”