‘Monumental step’: Winnipeg-based Activate Games launches Dubai location

Advertisement

Advertise with us

As of Wednesday, Activate Games’ doors will open to the public in Dubai.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/09/2024 (731 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As of Wednesday, Activate Games’ doors will open to the public in Dubai.

The Winnipeg-based interactive gaming company announced in November it had signed a deal with the Majid Al Futtaim Group, a massive Dubai-based company, to open dozens of locations across the Middle East and Africa.

Ten months later, Activate is launching in City Centre Mirdif, a mall near the Dubai International Airport.

SUPPLIED
                                Activate Games’ City Centre Mirdif location.

SUPPLIED

Activate Games’ City Centre Mirdif location.

Nine game rooms cover 6,994 square feet of space. Flashy lights and an “Activate” sign look out onto the mall.

Another four to five locations will likely open in the Middle East and Africa next year, according to Tanya Williams, Activate communications director.

Co-founder Adam Schmidt previously said Majid Al Futtaim has the capability to unroll Activate locations quickly because of the firm’s “sheer size” and ability to access real estate. On Tuesday, Schmidt was in Dubai to unveil its first Activate location.

Majid Al Futtaim owns shopping malls, movie theatres, ski resorts in the Middle East and Dubai’s first indoor skydiving centre, among other sites.

It will act as a franchisee, operating Activate at its discretion. It plans to open 40 sites, Ignace Lahoud, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim — Leisure, Entertainment & Cinemas, said in a news release.

Activate’s offerings include technology-filled climbing walls and laser rooms. Its “floor is lava”-style game went viral online.

The Dubai location has more than 50 interactive games and 100 levels to play.

SUPPLIED
                                Adam Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of Activate Games

SUPPLIED

Adam Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of Activate Games

Activate first opened on Portage Avenue in 2019. It now has more than 30 locations across Canada and the United States; 15 more are scheduled to open throughout North America this year, according to a news release.

Schmidt called opening in Dubai a “monumental step” for the company.

— Free Press staff

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Food literacy curriculum on the menu

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Food literacy curriculum on the menu

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Manitoba has a new recipe for health class and “food literacy” is a key ingredient.

The in-class portion of phys-ed has historically involved lessons about puberty, the risks of consuming drugs and dissecting Canada’s food guide.

A new pilot program asks teachers to expand their nutrition units and include in-depth discussions about how everything from diet culture to food insecurity affects eating habits.

“This is really moving beyond a conception of food as only fuel, where you just boil down food to its calories, its vitamins,” said Sarah Elvins, a food historian at the University of Manitoba who researches popular culture and marketing.

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: Avoid shopping (except food and gas) or important decisions until noon today. After that, the moon moves from Scorpio into Sagittarius.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Your idealism is aroused, perhaps because you feel sympathy for the suffering of someone far away. Because you are proactive by nature, you might do something to help in any way you can. Pay attention to what you say and do. Expect detours.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Jets vets weigh in on franchise goalie Hellebuyck not reporting to training camp

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read Preview

Jets vets weigh in on franchise goalie Hellebuyck not reporting to training camp

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read 6:35 PM CDT

Hockey is the ultimate team sport, where it’s supposed to be about the crest on your chest rather than the name on your back.

So how is Connor Hellebuyck’s trade request and subsequent training camp strike playing out inside the Winnipeg Jets locker room — particularly among other core players he’s gone to battle with over the years?

“Obviously the news is heartbreaking,” Jets forward Kyle Connor said Thursday.

“It feels like we had such a special group here and for whatever reason — I can’t speak to the reason until we hear from the man, I’m not going to speculate on what it is but I know that a lot of guys in that room that are heartbroken.”

Read
6:35 PM CDT

Manitoba abandoning spring, fall clock changes

Carol Sanders 8 minute read Preview

Manitoba abandoning spring, fall clock changes

Carol Sanders 8 minute read Updated: 5:36 PM CDT

Time’s up for the time change in Manitoba.

Manitobans won’t be setting their clocks back an hour in November. The province has decided to permanently stay on daylight time after surveying residents on the twice annual clock adjustment.

“We heard from Manitobans loud and clear — no more changing the clocks in Manitoba,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a news release Thursday.

Most of the 72,000 votes submitted in an online EngageMB survey — 92 per cent — said they would like to see the practice end. The survey asked if they preferred earlier sunrises in winter with standard time or the later sunsets in summer with daylight time. More than half of survey participants (58 per cent) indicated a preference to stay on permanent daylight time; 34 per cent voted to eliminate the time change but stay on standard time.

Read
Updated: 5:36 PM CDT

Man gets 18 year sentence for sex assault that impregnated teen girl

Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

BRANDON — A 29-year-old man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for sexually abusing and impregnating a 14-year-old girl in 2024.

“Sexual abuse of a child is inherently a grave violation of the child’s bodily integrity, dignity, and security, and in this case, the consequences were compounded by the victim’s pregnancy and the need to undergo a termination,” Brandon provincial court Judge Patrick Sullivan said on Tuesday.

The accused had pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual interference and two counts of breaching a court order banning him from contacting anyone under 18.

A publication ban prohibits the publication of information that could identify the 14-year-old, who is from a western Manitoba First Nation, and two other minors with whom he communicated.

Sweeney’s sexist U.S. gambling-site ad isn’t the real problem

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Sweeney’s sexist U.S. gambling-site ad isn’t the real problem

Dan Lett 5 minute read Yesterday at 1:33 PM CDT

Until very recently, there was no reason to connect actress and model Sydney Sweeney with online sports betting. But the degrees separating these two culture trends evaporated in short order this week.

Read
Yesterday at 1:33 PM CDT