In the original report we also looked at the emergence of London as an immersive cluster city. 44 immersive experiences, companies, venues and newly announced events and attractions that were mapped in a 12-month period between 2022-2023. This survey was not exhaustive and no doubt an escape room here or an immersive theatre event there were missed off but it was designed to give an indication of the rapid growth of the sector. While the immersive cluster was not the size of the West End or Broadway in New York (both globally recognised hubs creating jobs, IP, tourism and other economic activity), there was an embryonic cluster in the capital that represented a new growth area and opportunity that was increasingly worthy of sector-specific focus and potential support. This immersive cluster was also influencing and benefitting from convergence with other sectors such as the cultural sector (in particular museums and galleries, games and film and television) as well as the technology sector (both of which are key strengths for the UK economy).

Our 2025 mapping exercise showed significant growth, with 132 companies, temporary and permanent productions, venues and networks/industry organisations in the cluster. 14 had also disappeared showing the transient nature of the sector as well and echoing our earlier section on the Wild West phase (although some of these will have been temporary time-limited touring experiences). We also took the decision to make a double listing where there is both a London resident company and they undertook a local production that year to more accurately map the diversity of the ecosystem activity which increased the numbers slightly. For example, Punchdrunk and their 2025 production Lander 23 (it is worth noting that in some years immersive companies such as Punchdrunk will have no London shows). For this mapping exercise we have focused on organisations that are specifically operating in the immersive experience sector in some way as opposed to overlapping areas such as immersive technology where there is already extensive ecosystem mapping by organisations such as Innovate UK’s Immersive Tech Network.

While out of scope for this report there are a number of other significant city clusters around the world that would merit further research and mapping both established and emerging and with their own particular characteristics and drivers. In no particular order they are Paris, Las Vegas, New York, LA, Shanghai, Dubai and Tokyo. Although not a scientific measure it is worth noting that as of the time of writing, in terms of the number of immersive experiences listed on the Secret Media network (Fever) websites (where they exist for the city), they rank as follows:

1. London (89 immersive experiences)
2. Paris (87 immersive experiences)
3. Los Angeles (45 immersive experiences)
4. New York (43 immersive experiences)
5. Dubai (28 immersive experiences)
6. Las Vegas (15 immersive experiences)

Source: Fever

The full mapping exercise and the organisations can be found here.

Key

Venue – denotes a permanent or temporary immersive venue space that has or can hold changing immersive experiences or content e.g. Outernet

Permanent Experience – denotes a permanent immersive experience venue with a single experience. Of course, some of these can subsequently close at the end of lease periods or due to other challenges but at the time of writing there is no stated closure date.

Temporary Experience – denotes a time limited or touring immersive experience e.g. Lander 23 by Punchdrunk

Company – denotes a company based in the Greater London area that is a permanent part of the immersive entertainment ecosystem in the city creating or supporting the development of immersive experiences or the sector. Some companies have been included that have a broader remit than just immersive experiences, but they very clearly state that immersive experiences are within their activity and have a track record of achievement in this area.

Networks/Industry support – one of the indications of London’s increasing maturity as an immersive cluster is the growing number of immersive industry related networks, R&D infrastructure and other support programs that have emerged in response to the expansion of the sector in the city.

Continuing growth in permanent and long-term immersive infrastructure

In the 2023 report we charted the size of the immersive cluster in London for the first time and noted that we celebrate and support other creative hotspots such as London’s West End theatre district or Broadway in New York as producers of creative jobs, tourism and IP. One of the characteristics of London’s heralded theatre scene is the network of 39 permanent theatres, dating back to 1663. The immersive sector in the city has some way to go before it hits these numbers but it was clear with the opening of the £1 billion Outernet building, Immerse LDN at Excel as part of £350-million regeneration programme, the £52 million ABBA Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park that large scale investment in long-term flexible immersive infrastructure that could hold changing experiences was taking place.

The sector continues to put down roots and with continued growth it could start to have a similar impact (and complement) London’s West End albeit the venues are distributed across the city as a whole rather than in one location. New examples include the NEON space at Battersea Power Station references elsewhere in this report and after 18 years of pioneering large-scale temporary productions, Secret Cinema is also making a shift to permanence with the launch of its first dedicated home for immersive experiences at Greenwich Peninsula, opening in late 2026. Purpose-built for immersive storytelling, the new venue will enable more ambitious productions, longer runs and sustained year-round programming, marking a significant evolution in the company’s model. The new venue will be located in the Greenwich Peninsula which is one of London’s fastest-growing new cultural districts which is already home to The O2, the Design District, and a rapidly expanding community of residents, businesses and creatives.

Support for London’s immersive ecosystem and broader experience economy

With such promising data the question is how can London (and the UK more broadly) sustain and even supercharge this growth? The UK is a leader in the experience economy (an industry worth £134 billion to the country) and London is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experience capitals, combining scale, creativity and cultural density in a way few cities can match. Immersive entertainment is one of several sectors within the experience economy of the city alongside other areas such as theatre, music, museums, festivals, nightlife and major live events, all operating year-round and at global scale.

London received 22.7 million visitors in 2025 ranking number three globally with spending of USD$16.7 billion. Over half of all visitors to the UK include London in their trip and with an experience economy of this size needs a dedicated strategy and within that a focus on key growth areas such as immersive experiences.

London is not relying on organic growth alone but is actively shaping the experience economy through the London 2030 vision and the new Visitor Experience Strategy released in 2023 by London & Partners^[1]. They are the growth agency for London, and this strategy recognises experiences more broadly as drivers of tourism, employment, night-time economy growth and place-making. Immersive Experiences are featured in various parts of the strategy both in the recognition of new immersive attractions, such as Outernet, but also within the Future Trends section which focuses on how London should respond to changes within the Experience Economy and future-proof London’s visitor experience. This will hopefully ensure that the city’s places and experiences are resilient to changing audience expectations, emerging technologies and the environmental challenges that will shape how people engage with London in the years ahead.

The strategy notes a number of immersive experiences that have arrived in the capital but also cautions against simply chasing things that may be temporary in their appeal (this chimes with some of my own observations in the earlier Wild West chapter). Instead, the strategy advocates supporting existing players to evolve their offer and to adopt immersive technologies to attract new audiences. As we previously reported on, this cross-fertilisation has been happening over a number of years and examples range from Punchdrunk’s collaboration with the National Maritime Museum all the way back in 2015 or Gunpowder Immersive at the Tower of London developed through a partnership between Layered Reality and Historic Royal Palaces. This collaboration has continued over the last few years and examples include Frameless working with the National Portrait Gallery to reimagine how the Gallery’s collection and stories can be experienced through large-scale immersive media. One of the benefits is that immersive can be toured more easily than objects generating greater margins. The use of a 10,000 sq ft. temporary structure also means it can travel to any location even where a suitable venue might not be available. The first touring location was Media City, Salford Quays which also demonstrates how the National Portrait Gallery can deliver on its UK wide mission. The development of immersive ready art spaces and cultural venues in other parts of the country such as Factory International in Manchester has also allowed London immersive companies such as the Lightroom to tour its shows to these locations.

Through these multiple homegrown collaborations, London has clearly demonstrated that one benefit of a dynamic immersive cluster is the impact on other parts of the experience economy and this is a lesson that other cities should take note of.

• Dig Deeper – REMIX Talk – Hannah Price, Creative Director, Layered Reality (The Gunpowder Plot, Tower of London & War of the Worlds)
• Dig Deeper – REMIX Talk – Richard Slaney, CEO, Lightroom

The impact of immersive on London’s retail sector

Immersive retail is also prioritised as a key opportunity. Like many cities, London’s retail sector has been challenged by the rise of ecommerce and reduced foot traffic as a result of flexible working changing commuter patters. Alongside this spending has increasingly shifted toward experiences, food, drink and leisure rather than traditional shops.

In the first report we identified the emergence of immersive, and experience-led retailers in cities such as New York with Camp and Showfields as two examples of how both new and existing players are adapting to this trend. As with the immersive experience sector more broadly there have been winners and losers, Camp, a children’s entertainment and retail brand continues to open new sites and now has over 2 million annual visitors to its stores and perhaps more interestingly has sold over 600,000 tickets to in-store shows. Whereas Showfields, the self-declared ‘most interesting store in the world’ has since disappeared into bankruptcy.

This trend is not going away however as stated in a recent report by the World Economic Forum and there have been multiple new entrants in this space as well as further innovation by existing retailers and brands:

“Traditional retail is collapsing, but companies that design compelling offline experiences are building stronger emotional bonds, greater loyalty and higher return on investment compared to digital marketing alone.” World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

London examples include the $20 million Future Stores is part of a new wave of concept retail spaces that are revitalising London’s iconic Oxford Street which welcomed over 200 million visitors in 2023 and generated a staggering £3.1 billion or £1,168 revenue per square foot. Featuring 400 sq m of LED screens both inside and outside on multiple surfaces from walls to ceilings, this 435 sq m space opened in 2024 and offers ‘sophisticated data and tracking allowing brand owners to customize, personalize and improve the experience on the fly’. Brands including Intel, Pepsi, Adidas, Snap and Mercedes Benz have already created retail activations. Immersive spaces like Outernet which has similarities also opens onto Oxford Street have also combined experiential activations with retail.

Other brands such as LEGO and M&Ms have also developed experiential concept stores in London over the last few years building on the success of retailers such as Selfridges who have long embraced this model.

Immersive F&B and Hospitality is another prominent part of the story London cluster and there is significant growth here as the 24-hour economy continues to diversify. This is a broad category because immersive F&B typically encompasses many immersive formats from music to theatre and many immersive experience companies have also integrated innovative F&B formats into their story worlds such as Phantom Peak to generate additional revenue and increase dwell time.

Operating at the intersection of theatre, nightlife, and live music The Lost Estate is an example of a growth story in this space. The company is known for experiences such as 58^th Street, where audiences travel back in time to 1930s New York for an evening of glamour and full sensory immersion featuring Harlem jazz, and an indulgent six-course meal. It has achieved in excess of 200,000 customers since 2017 and recent investment values the business at £10 million and the company now employs 30 people in its Head Office as well as 200 part-time employees. Investors include a co-founder of Merlin Entertainments (Madame Tussauds, Legoland) showing the ability of immersive entrepreneurs to tap into London’s wealth of experienced investors as well as capital.

Encouraging ecosystem investment is another goal of London & Partners, working across tourism, culture, business and inward investment to position London as a global hub for experiential innovation. A recent example is the launch of London Experience Week held in partnership with the World Experience Organisation (WXO). This is the world’s first city-wide festival dedicated to the Experience Economy and is designed to spotlight the city’s world-leading immersive, cultural and participatory experiences, connect international buyers and media with London operators, and reinforce the capital’s leadership in the experience economy. London’s scale, policy focus and coordinated promotion underline why it functions not just as a cultural capital, but as a testbed and launchpad for experience-led models that increasingly shape global cities.

Finally, the strategy is a part of London’s overall Growth Plan and importantly this headline document recognises Immersive Entertainment not just as part of Creative industries but also the Technology sector recognising the convergence and shared opportunities across these two areas.

Outside of London, several major game changing immersive projects have been announced. Planning approval has now been secured for a major Universal Destinations & Experiences resort in Bedford. The project is projected to attract over eight million visitors annually to a 476-acre site that is anticipated to open by 2031. It is expected to generate over £50 billion of economic impact by 2055 and £500 million is being invested in transport infrastructure alone for the site. In our original report we also reported on how theme parks were embracing the immersive revolution. They are arguably the first generation of immersive experiences when you think of the contribution of pioneering establishments such as Disneyland. We noted the emergence of Puy du Fou in particular which has focused exclusively on creating immersive experiences for audiences. The park has no rides and immerses visitors in different historical periods. It has twice been named the best theme park in the world and boasts 3 million annual visitors across its original location in France and a new site in Spain. It has recently announced further locations including for the UK. The UK venture is a £600m development and will focus on British history. It will include four period villages and 13 live shows. Opening in 2029 it will employ 2000 people and will be located in Bicester, Oxfordshire. Although a smaller development than the Universal project they still estimate it will attract around 1.47 million visitors per annum.

• Dig Deeper – REMIX Talk – Nicolas de Villiers, President, Puy du Fou (historical immersive theme park voted “best theme park in the world”)

The vitality of the broader UK immersive ecosystem is also being felt in the capital. Wake The Tiger in Bristol has emerged as one of the UK’s most successful home-grown immersive entertainment companies in recent years. This permanent experience that they describe as an ‘Amazement Park’ blends experiential art, storytelling and participatory world-building. Opening in 2022 with an estimated £X million investment, the site has since welcomed over one million visitors and has more than doubled in size. Having demonstrated strong demand for the Wake the Tiger story world, the company has announced plans to open a major new London venue at Westfield London, marking its transition from a regional phenomenon to a national immersive brand. The London project is expected to significantly scale the model and is more than 80,000 sq ft and aims to attract 600,000 visitors per annum. This will make it Europe’s largest Immersive art experience and put it head-to-head with other expansionist players in this space such as Meow Wolf.

Dig Deeper – REMIX Talk – Graham MacVoy, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Wake the Tiger

^[1] For information London & Partners is a supporter of REMIX Summit London 2026