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Summary of our market study
The French Escape Games market is estimated to be worth between 204 and 330 million euros by 2022
The Escape Games market originated in Japan and is becoming increasingly popular in regions such as China, the United States and Europe. The sector forecasts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 14% between 2023 and 2032.
The French market alone counted 885 escape gaming establishments in 2023.
Despite a brief stagnation in interest, word-of-mouth and positive online reviews (average 4.74/5 stars) continue to be key drivers of demand.
Setting up an escape game involves a number of distinct stages: locating the premises, fitting them out, writing the scenarios and complying with regulations governing leisure activities.
Expansion of Escape Games in France
The appeal of these games lies in the ability of players to immerse themselves in different realities, where they are the main characters in their own adventures, tasked with solving mysteries and escaping within a given timeframe, usually 60 minutes.
Their popularity is soaring.
With 885 escape game sales outlets in France in 2023, the market has grown steadily in recent years, despite a brief slowdown in 2020 due to the pandemic.
It is estimated that between 15 and 20 million people will have taken part in an Escape Game by 2022.
Families, friends and even corporate teams are flocking to the rooms.
The French Escape Games market is estimated to be worth between 204 and 330 million euros in 2022. This niche thrives on creativity and diversity, with scenarios encompassing physical, virtual reality and even home-based experiences.
Demand is fuelled by word-of-mouth.
The market is dominated by individual entrepreneurs and small franchises. Rooms are springing up in towns with populations of less than 20,000, and even in villages.
Players in the escape game market
- Escape Yourself ,the country's largest franchisor.
- Other franchises include Team Break, Prison Island Get Out, Closed Escape Game and Sensass.
- Escape Hunt, Prizoners and BRAIN
- Virtual Room and John Doe.
- Koezio
- Escape Games United, Escape The City and TimeXperience
- Dama Dreams
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Definition and scope of study
The escape game is a Japanese concept that arrived in France in 2013. The concept is simple: a team of players is locked in a room, and given an allotted time to get out (usually 60 minutes). This goal is achieved by solving puzzles and making discoveries that plunge the player into a real universe defined by the room. The challenge and multiple possibilities generated by this concept are what make it so popular.
The players in the escape game market are architects, scriptwriters, actors, but mainly the escape games themselves: independent or franchised.
Over the past 10 years, the escape game concept has been gaining ground all over the world, with Western countries being the main growth markets. While the United States and China are the two countries with the largest number of escape games, the leading countries in terms of number of escape games per million inhabitants are European.
Estimates predict spectacular growth for the sector worldwide, with a CAGR in excess of 14% between 2023 and 2032.
In 2023, France will have 885 escape game outlets. Escape games are still making good progress, and the French market is in the process of structuring itself. Nevertheless, territorial coverage is now quite adequate, and competition is set to increase over the next few years. Indeed, in a sector where word-of-mouth and the customer experience are paramount, seniority is not yet an argument, and many new players are shaking things up. The sector is divided between private individuals and franchises, but no major group dominates yet.
The French escape game market is estimated to be worth between €204 million and €330 million by 2022.
The year 2020, with its health crisis, interrupted the excellent momentum in which the brands had been operating, and we can only hope for a solid recovery in 2021. Nevertheless, escape games have shown their resilience, and still have some great opportunities ahead of them. Indeed, industry specialists agree that potential demand is still very high, and that there are still many people unfamiliar with the concept who are just waiting to be seduced.
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 ...
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, ****-****, ...
2 Demand analysis
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 ...
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 ...
3 Market structure
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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: ...
3.5 Value chain
4 Offer analysis
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 ...
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 ...
5 Regulations
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 ...
6 Positioning the players
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
List of charts presented in this market study
- Growth in the size of the worldwide escape game market
- Escape game reviews and comments on the Internet
- Evolution of interest in the term "Escape Game
- Escape game pricing
- Breakdown of escape game brands by theme
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Latest news
Ten years after their arrival in France, escape games are moving upmarket - 10/02/2023
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