Emaar Entertainment opened a suitable-for-all-ages VR amusement park in the world-renowned Dubai Mall on February 28. VR game development studio Starbreeze Studios announced that the park will also feature eight of the company’s VR experiences, four of which will be seeing a grand debut at the opening.

Aptly named VR Park, the 75,000 sq ft entertainment center will stretch across two stories of the expansive mall and features games, rides, an indoor roller coaster, and some educational materials as well. The ambitious project is more than just providing a new level of polished, professional access to quality VR, but also stands as an indicator of the future of the entertainment industry and of leisure in Dubai and the Middle East.

According to the Dubai Mall, in 2014, up to 80 million people visited the mall making it not only one of the highest traffic malls in the world but a hot tourist destination globally. The mall welcomed almost 19 times more visitors per year than Yellowstone National Park, according to numbers from a news release from the National Park Service. And with $7.43 billion in revenue in 2015, according to Majid Al Futtaim, the mall’s operating firm, the location of the park is surely meant to catch the eye of some of the wealthiest spenders and potential investors in the world. As a beacon of the advancement of VR entertainment, investors and executives of Emaar and Starbreeze are hoping the family-friendly park will foster and help usher a new era of VR based entertainment.

Entry to the park is free with the varying experiences priced individually. A majority of VR experiences offered by the park will also be available to play on the Starbreeze and Acer owned HMD, StarVR. 

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