On the infernal world of Mustafar deep in an Imperial vault, K-2SO, the reprogrammed Imperial security droid, helped two Rebel spies slice into a terminal while two others stood outside the door blasting away stormtroopers coming to protect the treasures the brave freedom fighters sought.

It was the best twenty minutes I’ve ever spent in a shopping mall, and it could be coming to your city in the not-too-distant future.

The VOID is a virtual reality company specializing in “location-based experiences,” which are sort of like part escape room, part live-action roleplay, part laser tag, and all childhood dreams. The company has just announced that nine new locations will be opening, one in each of the following cities:

  • Atlanta, GA
  • Austin, TX
  • Dallas, TX
  • Hollywood, CA
  • Minneapolis, MN
  • New York, NY
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Santa Monica, CA
  • Washington, D.C.

Timeframes for these locations have not been announced.

While their first major project was Ghostbusters: Dimension, The VOID’s largest success to date is arguably the result of a team-up with ILMxLab: Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire. This can’t-miss experience puts Star Wars fans on a dangerous mission to recover an artifact that will surely reappear in a future Star Wars story, features Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk reprising their roles as Cassian Andor and K-2SO, and is easily the closest we have ever come to feeling like a Rebel spy.

After strapping on a backpack, chest armor, and helmet, you board a starship bound for Mustafar. In the experience, you encounter everything from stormtroopers to hostile wildlife to some very familiar faces from a galaxy far, far away. What sets this apart from other VR experiences, though, is the tangibility. When you are instructed to pull a lever, the lever is there. When you step out above the wastes of Mustafar, you are immediately struck by heat and smell of molten lava. When K-2SO instructs you to sit down on a bench, the bench is there as you sit, unless you are like me and decide to hug K-2SO instead, and yes, he’s really there. As you look around at your party in their “holographic disguise matrices,” you will see that they appear to be stormtroopers proportionate to their sizes. (I wish everyone could see what my 4’11” girlfriend looked like amongst normal-sized stormtroopers.)

Check out the following trailer for Secrets of the Empire, and be ready to aid the Fulcrum Initiative in infiltrating a labyrinthian Imperial fortress (or perhaps battling your way through an all-new experience, as ILMxLab has teased…) when The VOID comes to a city near you.

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Ryan Miorelli

Ryan Miorelli