by Vijaylakshmi
Still a western concept, destinations with food and drinks, gaming and entertainment combined together, is slowly and steadily catching up with Indian cities as well. Prasuk R Jain, who has been able to create a portfolio of luxury F&B and entertainment brands under the umbrella brand – The Game – expects rapid adaptation happening in India as well in the next decade or so. He feels that India has a number of pockets where such premium F&B and entertainment products can really take off and thrive.
“That’s why we are developing more concept brands. We will be opening three new stores in Hyderabad, three in Bengaluru, three in Delhi and four in Mumbai this year. At the same time we have signed locations in cities like Ludhiana, Mohali, Amritsar, Kolkata, Chennai, etc,” said Jain, the MD of Snow World Entertainment.
The new The Game Palacio at Mall of India is spread in 56,000 sqft area with a number of games and entertainment including a bowling alley, arcade and video games, and two restaurants – Kamikaze, a cocktail bar and Verde, an Italian restaurant.
“We have back to back openings this year,” Jain said. These include a 20,000 sqft The Game Palacio in central Delhi Connaught Place(Regal Building); second one in west Delhi at Pitampura; another one in Saket, south Delhi; and at Golf Course Road in Gurugram. “All these are signed and sealed and work has started on three of these projects,” he said.
Jain said that the vision is to create a “massive portfolio of F&B and entertainment brands” representing India over the next three years so that the sector attracts investors and private equity players to come and invest. Once such a large bouquet of brands are created, Jain said that the company has plans to go for IPO in the next three years.
Jain, who has introduced innovative F&B brands like Amazonia, Koa Cafe, Jade, Pink Wasabi, and Havana Commune, says that he is in the process of introducing some “crazy concepts” like hidden bars and underground bars, which are quite popular in different cities in the world. At the same time, he said that they will present Amazonia and Jade with a “different face” in upcoming projects at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Starting off in the amusement and entertainment industry in 2012, Jain’s Snow World Entertainment operates large indoor and outdoor amusement and entertainment venues in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad. After the success of The Game Mumbai at the Millennium Mall, Worli, the company has introduced various variants of the concept – The Game Palatio, The Game Garden, The Game Ranch, XOXO Lounge, etc. with a combination of gaming, entertainment, food and drinks.
Snow World Entertainment also holds the rights for 3 IPs of Disney in India – Peter Pan, Jungle Book and Robin Hood, and will be developing theme parks in India. Jain said that they have already identified places and the projects are in different stages of development. “In kids and adult gaming, we have the largest portfolio in India today. We will finish this year with 22 live stores,” he said.
