Escape room startup Escape This hits 500,000 players as it plots national expansion

Australian-owned escape room provider Escape This has surpassed half a million players, marking a major milestone as the Perth-founded business continues its push towards a national footprint.

Less than a year after the company secured $1.4 million from 357 investors through an OnMarket equity crowdfunding campaign, Escape This has grown from four venues in Perth and Sydney and 370,000 guests to five venues and 500,000 players.

Founded in Perth in 2020 by Bernie and Daniel Janes, Escape This has now entered its third Australian state with the opening of its first Melbourne venue.

Speaking with SmartCompany, Bernie Janes said hitting half a million players is a huge moment for the business.

“The number is exciting, but what sits behind it is half a million people choosing to spend a birthday, date night, family outing or work event inside a world we created. That’s pretty special,” he said.

“We’ve grown in a fairly old-fashioned way: build something genuinely good, look after people and trust that they’ll tell others.”

While more than 15,000 five-star reviews and a huge amount of word-of-mouth have helped Escape This grow, Janes said having a broad portfolio matters too.

“One visit might put you aboard a pirate ship; the next might drop you into a murder mystery or a zombie outbreak,” he said.

“Above everything else, we prioritise immersion. People are looking for genuine escapism – somewhere they can leave the real world behind for an hour and become part of another one.”

Setting the standard for immersive entertainment in Australia

The Escape This Melbourne venue is located in the heart of the city at 259 Collins Street.

It currently has three experiences operating, with the fourth opening on August 28 and the fifth following on September 11. From there, the operator will essentially release a new experience every two weeks for the remainder of the year.

Once complete, the centre will house 12 experiences, making it the largest in Victoria by number of experiences under one roof.

The variety is enormous and very deliberate. Players will be able to go from realistic extreme horror, such as being buried alive inside a coffin, to a whimsical fantasy adventure with a talking owl, classic gothic horror, or a steampunk submarine.

Escape This positioned to expand further

Janes said Perth will always be the business’ home turf, and each state it ventures into has unique challenges.

“It’s where we developed the product, built our production capability and learned how to operate the business at scale. Sydney then proved that what we had created could travel and appeal to players outside our home market,” he said.

“Melbourne is probably our biggest test yet. Melburnians already understand and love escape rooms, and the market is highly competitive. We’re not introducing people to the category – we have to convince an experienced audience that we offer something genuinely different.”

Janes said the Melbourne venue gives the team confidence that Escape This can grow from a successful Perth company into a leading national immersive entertainment brand.

“We have a lot in the works, although some of it will need to stay behind a locked door for a little longer. What I can say is that expansion into Queensland and South Australia is definitely on the way,” he said.

“The next few years will be a combination of expansion and reinvestment: new states, new venues and entirely new worlds, while continuing to improve the experiences our players already know. The goal is not only to become bigger – it is to keep raising the standard as we grow.”

Unlike a franchise or licensing model, every Escape This experience is developed at its in-house production facility in Perth.

The company owns and controls the complete process, from its original stories and gameplay to the physical sets and integrated technology.

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