Little Lion Entertainment’s acquisition of The Ents Inc.

Little Lion Entertainment, a a leading immersive attractions company, acquired The Ents Inc., creator of Games Arenas and Chaos Karts. The company also stated that more acquisitions and brand new, never-before-seen games are on the horizon.

With millions of visitors to its attractions and over 300 employees in the leisure sector, Little Lion Entertainment is already the UK’s leading provider of immersive attractions. It is renowned for providing excellent guest experiences, internationally recognized state-of-the-art attractions and consistent annual growth. Its goal is to become a world leader in recreation and entertainment.

This is the company behind the two highly successful Crystal Maze LIVE Experience flagships in the UK and the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience franchise in the Middle East. Now, backed by a strong management team, solid financial track record, award-winning products and high customer satisfaction, Little Lion Entertainment is entering new markets with new products.

Considering that The Ents Inc. is a leader in the new area of ​​live video gaming attractions – as evidenced by the successful launch of Chaos Karts in Manchester in September 2023 and Franchise Dubai in March 2024 – Little Lion’s recent acquisition of The Ents Inc./Games Arenas is another important milestone. Little Lion will soon unveil its second live video game attraction, which will be a world first.

Building on success

This new wave of highly successful and scalable low capital/low op ex properties, both domestically and internationally, will push the boundaries of what people can expect from entertainment today.

“If the console is Games Arena, then Chaos Karts and every subsequent game will be the contribution that will go to it,” he says Tom Lionetti-Maguire, CEO of Little Lion Entertainment. “I say ‘card’ because I instinctively think of the N64, which defined the gaming of my childhood. And like any console, although the initial outlay is high, games can be created at a much lower cost; which means infinite content and infinite repeatability.

“Comparing that to spending $100 million on a theme park expansion, $10 million on a roller coaster, or even millions on a stand-alone attraction, we really think this is the future of entertainment.

“Our second game is a puzzle-based action-adventure game created in collaboration with one of the most famous IPs in the known universe – it will truly blow people away!”

Additionally, Little Lion is set to introduce The Crystal Maze Mini, a brand new, smaller version of The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience aimed at the international market. It will be a more compact package, a more economical and sustainable design, and will retain all the playability, theatricality and overall quality of the product originalwhich will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2025.

“We are constantly trying to refresh the Crystal Labyrinth in all its forms,” he says Matt Stubbs, Chief Creative Officer at Little Lion Entertainment. “Games, Zones, Dome, Narrative, Maze Masters. I wanted something different, something more, an evolution of all these elements. All.

“Crystal Maze Mini will do just that. When designing this dazzling new version, we pushed the boundaries of tangible interactivity, irreverence, theater and pure joy! We’ve created a world where teams will explore new, fully immersive zones and challenge each other in new two-player games, before facing off in the never-before-seen Crystal Dome. I am confident that the Crystal Maze Mini is ready for the world stage.”

More acquisitions are ahead of us

As the acquisition of Ents Inc. demonstrated, Little Lion Entertainment has already expanded, leveraging its existing infrastructure to take over the new company’s operations. Actively seeks new acquisitions of this type, including wet-led or competitive socialization concepts or a non-competitive operator, to offer further opportunities and synergies.

“There are clear and obvious similarities between immersive experiences and competitive social interactions, fundamentally in how they bring people together and how they bring people joy,” he adds Neil Dolanmanaging director of Little Lion Entertainment.

“Little Lion Entertainment has been at the forefront of the experience revolution since its inception and is now halfway through a record year for the company. Successful takeover of The Ents Inc. highlights the strength of our business and we are working to understand where further opportunities lie to deliver further growth. We are therefore actively assessing available opportunities to further strengthen our brand portfolio.”