The escape rooms market - France (2023)

1.2 The global escape game market

The Logic Escapes me: a review by a specialist blog

The London-based blog The Logic Escapes me reports an overview of the global escape game market, as well as an estimate of the number of escape rooms worldwide, based on data available in the various countries where this market exists. This blog, written by an enthusiast, reports data based on amateur research, but remains the best indicator currently available.

Originating in Japan, the market has exploded in China, the United States and Europe since the early ****s. The blog reports the estimated ranking of countries with the most escape games per million inhabitants. The top countries in the ranking are:

(***) Belgium.

The author points out that this ranking is imperfect. This is because the definition of an escape room is still unclear, and there are no data available for many countries.

The author makes a comparison between **** and ****, and concludes that the global market has not finished developing. Indeed, the number of global openings is still on the rise. But in ****, the first signs of a slowdown can be seen. In the USA, Israel and Poland, major waves of closures (***) seem to indicate a solidification of the market, with the ...

1.3 French market size and dynamics

Escape games in the Insee register

In France, escape game activities are recorded in the Insee register under NAF code **.**Z Other recreational and leisure activities. Insee provides a sales trend for activities recorded under this NAF code.

sales trends for other recreational and leisure activities NAF code **.**Z France, ****-****, in billions of euros Source: ****

The escape game market is therefore a sub-segment of a dynamic national market. Indeed, "other recreational and leisure activities" recorded an average annual growth rate of *.**% over the ****-**** period, to reach a market size of *.*** billion euros. The year ****, marked by the onset of the health crisis and several periods of confinement, was a real stopper: sales for companies in the sector fell by **% to *.*** billion euros. Between **** and ****, there will be an exceptional CAGR of **%, showing that the recovery has been particularly marked.

Number of escape games in France

Escape games are a recent phenomenon in France. According to a study conducted for the website lesfrancslimiers.com entitled Les Escape Rooms en France, the first French chain opened on December *, ****(***). Since then, the number of escape games in France has grown steadily.

The escapegame.fr website reports an infographic on the panorama of ...

2.1 An extremely accessible product with a still strong demand for power

The great strength of escape games is their accessibility. The activity requires no special knowledge or physical aptitude. It's an activity that can be enjoyed with friends, family or colleagues. The format is ideal: ** - ** minutes, and the coverage of the French territory makes it easy to reach the entire French population. In the eyes of the industry's players, it appears that the existence of the escape game concept has not yet been communicated to the entire population, so there are still whole swathes of demand to conquer.

Interest in escape games

The Google Trend tool provides an insight into the evolution of public interest in escape games, by observing the evolution of internet searches for the keyword "Escape Game"

evolution of interest in the term "Escape Game France, ****-****, in Google Trend index Source: ****

The graph above therefore represents the proportion of searches for the keyword "escape game" in France over the last few years, in relation to when the rate of use of this keyword was highest (***). Thus, a value of ** means that the keyword was used half as often in the area concerned.We are considering half-yearly averages here.Since ****, interest in escape games seems to have ...

2.2 The French and leisure activities

Average weekly leisure time France, ****, in hours per week Sofinco

The French spend an average of **H** per week on leisure activities. Retired people spend the most time with **H**. Men spend an average of * hours more per week on leisure than women.

Leisure choice criteria France, ****, in Sofinco

pleasure, well-being and enrichment are the top criteria for choosing a leisure activity, followed by price. These results are encouraging for the escape games market, since they meet these criteria fairly well.

Breakdown of cultural and leisure spending France, ****, in Source: ****

Share of recreational and sports services in cultural and leisure spending France, **** - ****, in % Source: ****

Escape games can be considered as part of recreational and sporting activities. This category will account for almost **% of leisure spending in ****. This figure has fallen sharply since the health crisis, but is largely due to a decline in sporting activities.

3.1 Creating an escape game

The escape game business is not yet well defined. Most of the players are private individuals setting up on their own or as franchisees, and therefore organizing the preliminary stages of opening a site on their own. In an article, the escapegame.fr website summarizes the various stages involved in "Setting up your own Escape Game". The stages described here relate above all to the opening of Escape Yourself franchises. Other brands operate in different ways.

Finding premises

According to the franchisors, this is the most complicated stage. The aim is to build rooms adapted to the number of players per team that the creator wants. The site advises against surfaces of less than ** m². The site also insists that a shop window is not necessary: in the escape game market, word-of-mouth and the Internet bring in most of the clientele.

Buying and fitting out the premises

Once the premises have been purchased or leased (***), the owner must make the necessary adjustments to ensure an immersive experience. This may require the work of an architect, but also that of an interior decorator. In an increasingly structured regulatory environment, the architect helps to avoid unpleasant surprises, and to ensure that the premises ...

3.2 Local escape games

Distribution of signs in the region

[***]

Overall, the growth in the number of escape games in France is largely due to medium-sized cities. The growing emergence of escape games in medium-sized towns such as Saint-Étienne, Orléans, Tours and Clermont-Ferrand reflects a marked craze for this form of entertainment. This trend seems to be in line with a demographic relocation movement observed since the COVID-** crisis. Notably, in ****, **% of chains are now established in towns with fewer than **,*** inhabitants, while **% are located in villages. [***]

Escape games in the urban landscape

The statistical study on Escape Rooms in France, reports on the distribution of French escape game chains by urban area.

Distribution of escape game chains by location zone France, ****, % of total Source: ****

Downtown locations dominate the market, but their share is declining in favor of other areas. However, this decline needs to be qualified, as it remains fairly slight. However, it is possible to deduce that the downtown market is beginning to become saturated.

3.3 Franchises in a market still dominated by independents

The two development options for opening an escape game are independent development and franchising. Franchises can be developed in two ways:

Purchase of specifications: the entrepreneur is responsible for creating the settings and mechanisms on his or her own account; Full franchise: the franchisor takes charge of building the room.

The statistical study Les Escape Rooms en France reports on the breakdown of French escape brands between independents and franchisees.

Breakdown of escape game chains by type of structure France, ****, in Source: ****

The market is therefore still in the process of structuring, and mergers are likely to take place over the next few years. Nevertheless, today's competitive landscape is highly fragmented, with a multitude of small operators.

Similarly, among franchisors, competition is still real, with the overwhelming majority owning fewer than * franchises.

Franchisors by number of outlets France, ****, as % of total Source: ****

The franchisors operating in the market are still small. The market is therefore not yet saturated.

Details of franchises in section *.

3.4 Interview with Emmanuel Teboul, co-founder of Dama Dreams

Marine: Welcome to the Niche, the podcast that analyzes the niche market with the entrepreneurs who are shaking things up. I'm Marine and I work at Businesscoot, the start-up that's dusting off market research before it starts. Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcast. And now for today's niche: the escape game market. For this, I welcome Emmanuel Teboul, co-founder of Dama Dreams. Hello Emmanuel

Emmanuel : Hello Marine, nice to meet you.

Marine: It's a real pleasure, and to start with, I'll let you tell us a bit about Dama Dreams.

Emmanuel: Dama Dreams is an independent French immersive experience creation studio, structured around three areas: brand-licensed experiences, in-house experiences and brand activation. Today, we're present in * cities in France, in Paris, Deauville-Trouville and La Baule, and we mainly operate escape games, and immersive escape games, a concept we've strongly developed over the last two years, which we'll be able to talk about again later in the podcast.

Marine : Ok, Emmanuel, before we start, we're not in the habit of doing our episodes like this, but I had a question, just out of curiosity. We were wondering what skills are required to create an Escape game, and how do ...

3.5 Value chain

4.1 Offer typology

Escape game prices

Escape game pricing France, ****-****, in euros Lesfrancslimiers

Many sites don't display their rates, so they can be more flexible depending on the number of players, the day of the week and the time of day (***), the price is displayed. In the table below, escape game familly prices are given as an indication.

Source: ****

Days worked

The statistical study on Escape Rooms in France, reveals figures on the operation of chains. It shows that in ****, **% of chains will be open every day, compared with **% in ****. The majority of chains now observe a closing day, and for the majority of them (***), this day is Monday. Of these, **% still observe more than one weekly closing day. [***]

Number of scenarios

The study also presents an average number of scenarios per chain. The latter is on the increase: from *.** scenarios in ****, chains are offering an average of *.** scenarios in ****. The offer is gradually moving towards a wider range of choices for consumers. Scenarios increasingly involve actors, but digital tools such as virtual reality headsets are gradually making their way into the rooms. Some escape games are even exclusively virtual reality games.

4.2 A highly diversified offering

The creation of escape games relies on imagination and inventiveness, and behind the unifying concept lie a host of possible variations. The escapegame.fr website reports on the distribution of French brands by adventure theme.

Breakdown of escape game chains by theme France, ****, in Source: ****

The breakdown is not dominated by any specific category. Themes are wide-ranging, and the adventure offering is highly diversified, with several brands using actors or digital animations to enhance immersion and the variety of settings.

The world of escape games offers a variety of experiences, from physical rooms to home-based versions. Escape rooms offer immersive adventures in a variety of settings, guided by a game master. Escape boxes, in the form of a board game, combine numbered cards and enigmas, suitable for evenings out with adults or the whole family. Escape books, such as "Escape Game" by Mango, take the concept to book form, with puzzles to solve. Finally, downloadableescape kits , such as "Qui a tué Mme Duroy?" by Escape Kit, allow you to recreate the experience at home, offering well-designed puzzles for all members of the family.

5.1 General regulations

Regulations specific to escape games are rather light, given that this is a new market still in its infancy, but there are certain measures that need to be taken into account. The measures that apply are the more general ones specific to ERP (***). [***]

For those that have an impact on the escape game business, it's important to note the measures relating to the very design of the venue. ERP establishments are subject to rules concerning the design and construction of premises, which must :

be built in such a way as to enable occupants to evacuate quickly and safely; have one or more facades bordering roads or open spaces, to enable the evacuation of the public, and the access and operation of rescue and fire-fighting equipment; have exits (***), and any secure waiting areas and interior clearances leading to them, arranged and distributed to enable people to be evacuated or sheltered quickly and safely beforehand; be made of materials and construction elements with fire-resistant qualities appropriate to the risks involved; be laid out in such a way as to ensure adequate protection, particularly as regards the distribution of the various rooms and their possible isolation.

Lastly, these rooms must have an evacuation plan ...

6.1 Segmentation: franchises

List of escape game franchises with at least two branches in France :

• Escape Yourself
• Get Out VLS Entertainment
• Escape Hunt
• Collock
• John Doe escape game
• Brain
• Challenge The Room
• Closed Escape Game
• Coopéria
• Escape Games united
• The One Escape
• Escape Time
• Escape Shaker
• Prisoners
• Team Break
• Wescape
• ODYSSEE PROD