The first Level X facility in the UK is set to shake up the country’s entertainment landscape as it launches in Glasgow’s St. Enoch Centre this week.
The X Files
Filling the 30,000sq ft hole left in the centre by Covid, Level X is designed to be a step into the future. Once visitors have tapped in using their RFID wristband, they’ll be able to visit a range of zones, each featuring immersive attractions from around the world.
These include Alt Verse, a VR zone that supports a wide range of VR games and experiences; Gutterball, ten-pin bowling with a street art twist; Big Putts, futuristic mini-golf that tracks your score in the ball; and Level Up, a collection of arcade machines old and new. The latter zone also features a giant game of Hungry Hippos, if your curiosity is yet to be piqued.
Where There’s a Wilks, There’s a Way
Level X is the brainchild of Founder Tom Wilks, the man behind Lane7, a chain of boutique ten-pin bowling alleys with additional games and quality food and drink. With the business ranking in the Times’ Top 100 Fastest Growing Independent Businesses, 11 locations open in the UK, and 6 more planned, the stage is set for Wilks to push things even further with this new project.
“We’ve scoured the world to unearth the most exciting tech-led experiences and updated nostalgic favourites to bring them together under one roof with Level X. We’re enormously excited to open in Glasgow. We see this as just the start for a brand that will become synonymous with a new approach to family entertainment centres in the UK.” Wilks said. “There are enormously exciting things happening within the world of gaming, AI and VR and bringing these together in a venue that’s totally committed to everyone having a brilliant time together – children and adults alike – is what we’re all about.”
The Next Level
Though the first Level X facility is only just launching, Wilks already has plans for rapid expansion, with a second venue in Middlesbrough planned to launch before the end of the year. The new Level X will feature different attractions than the original in Glasgow, but they’ll all be bundled together under the Level X ‘Master Brand’.
It’s all part of Wilks’ vision for the future of entertainment in the UK; a future which, he feels, is long overdue: “The need to reimagine family entertainment as well as what our future city centres will look like is upon us. Immersive, tech-led gaming and entertainment on this scale is something that I predict will become commonplace in the necessary reinvention of our city centres up and down the UK.”
It remains to be seen whether Level X will live up to its huge potential, but given Wilks’ track record, the future of UK entertainment is looking very bright indeed.