Delta strikes it hot in laser tag world
The laser tag game has been around since the late 1980s but more recently has proved a big earner for Christchurch company Delta Strike.
The company now employs about 45 people in several countries, with annual revenue understood to be in the millions.
Growth has accelerated over the past three years, with sales in China, Southeast Asia and the United States, general manager Cordelia Wall said.
Laser tag was inspired by the Star Wars films and involves two teams equipped with vests and a phaser. When a player pulls the phaser’s trigger it sends an infrared signal; if aimed accurately at the vest of an opposing player, this registers a score on a counter.
Wall said the games are welcomed by parents looking for safe activities for children. Many businesses and organisations also use the games for team building.
The games usually last about 12 minutes, so participants walk out still feeling high on adrenalin.
Delta Strike owner Doug Willems bought a laser tag centre in 2004 in Christchurch and found the industry was tired and lacked new ideas. He teamed up with engineer Dave Lowe to find a better way to automate, manage and market the games.
When Delta Strike started selling its current version in 2010 it turned the market on its head, Wall said.
As well as providing a playing experience, Delta Strike offers features to support the owners of the laser centres.
‘‘That’s the key to the success of the business. We support the centre operators. They can always ring and get someone to talk to or contact us online,’’ Wall said.
‘‘We’ll take a financial hit to do the right thing. If someone in a remote place like Haast wanted to set up we’d advise against it because you need a population base of at least 80,000 to be successful.
‘‘We require operators and staff to obtain equipment training certification to maintain the terms of the warranty.
‘‘Everything we do is with the success of the operator end user in mind. Operators can run diagnostic algorithms that will tell them if equipment needs preventive maintenance.’’
The software remains in New Zealand but most of the hardware is made in a factory in China owned by Delta and managed by a New Zealand engineer.
Wall travels widely in her marketing efforts and has just returned from Dubai where a new outlet is opening. ❚ Delta Strike is taking part in Techweek’17. Fairfax Media is the media partner for Techweek’17, a week of events bringing New Zealand’s brightest technology and innovation talent together to tackle global issues with local ingenuity from May 6-14. Visit techweek.co.nz.