Imax Is Shutting Down Its VR Business, Closing Remaining Three VR Centers in Q1

Imax is making its exit from virtual reality (VR) official: The company notified shareholders with a SEC filing Thursday that it will close down its remaining three VR centers, and write off “certain VR content investments.”A company spokesperson confirmed the planned closures and shared the following statement with Variety: “With the launch of the IMAX VR centre pilot program our intention was to test a variety of different concepts and locations to determine which approaches work well. After a trial period with VR centres in multiplexes, we have decided to conclude the IMAX VR centre pilot program and close the remaining three locations in Q1 2019.”The company previously closed four of its seven VR centers, including most recently its sole European outpost in Manchester. It still operates three Imax VR locations in Los Angeles, Bangkok, and Toronto.Imax launched Imax VR in early 2017 with a flagship location adjacent to the Grove mall in Los Angeles. At the time, the expansion into VR was billed as an experiment, and a way for Imax to determine whether VR could be the next big thing for the company. Its original strategy called for the launch of roughly a dozen such VR centers around the world, which were supposed to be used to fine-tune the model for possible further expansion.