Remote Realm
Problem
The problem I wanted to solve first was the issue of video game preservation. There have been many different video games from the time they were first introduced in the late 60s to modern times. Between that time frame, a lot of the games made weren’t preserved well, or not enough people know about them. As a result, most games have been lost to time.
Solution and Pivoting
I envisioned Remote Realm to solve this issue, to create a library of retro games up to the PS2/Xbox era of gaming, to allow for a better way to catalog games and prevent their history, as well as the hard work of their respective developers from being lost. Remote Realm would be a cafe/bar hybrid that also housed retro games. I did more research and found that there are already nonprofit organizations committed to the preservation and do it more efficiently, but a glaring problem I found with my idea is that there was no good way to make a profit from this idea if I used games mainly from the retro era because I would be limiting my target market too much.
I decided it was time to pivot Remote Realm, change it from a cafe dedicated to preserving retro video games, and transform it into a full-fledged gaming restaurant that includes modern games and consoles, dedicated LAN party rooms, and space for tabletop gaming such as Dungeons and Dragons.
Business Model
Our business model will generate revenue through the food we will be serving, as well as charging customers for allotted time on the game console of their choosing. More time they pay for, the more we charge. LAN party rooms will be charged per person for X amount of hours. In the future, I plan on setting up a rewards program for Remote Realm customers. The data gathered from the program will then be distributed for monetary gain.
Target Market
My target market will consist of gamers of all ages. However, we will ask underage customers to leave once the clock hits 8 pm to reduce liability from serving alcohol to minors. Consequently, we will not serve alcohol until 8 pm. We will hold events as well to attract more people to our establishment, namely local esports tournaments and speedrunning competitions. In the long run, we will try to get in contact with organizations to sponsor our restaurant events to generate more revenue.
Key Competitors
Our key competitors are other gaming restaurants, namely Battle and Brew in Sandy Springs, and Axis Gaming in Atlanta. One of the most important things I heard from my peers is not to make a gaming restaurant in an area where there are other gaming restaurants otherwise you run the risk of saturating the market. So I will be basing Remote Realm in Roswell GA since most other gaming restaurants are either in ATL or on the outskirts of ATL. This will allow my business to flourish due to being one of the only gaming restaurants in the Roswell area.