The Port City’s premier mobile laser tag company has found a home.
Less than a year after starting a virtual shop in town, Battlefield Live Wilmington now has a brick-and-mortar facility–a renovated house at the end of Jones Plaza, complete with an onsite course.
Battlefield Live will host its grand opening from 1 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday at its new location, 3910 Market St.
While the local gaming company—whose slogan is “not your daddy’s laser tag”—will primarily remain a come-to-you establishment, the owners and operator say having a permanent location was always part of the plan.
“It started because I needed a place to store my equipment,” Battlefield Live Wilmington operator David Mark Chiprut joked. “But I did want a place to let people come in and still be able to have a fun, competitive game.”
David Mark Chiprut decided to get into the laser tag business with his parents Maggy and David Chiprut while still in college for computer animation in Florida.
There, he came across a similar business using the same kind of high-tech equipment now used at Battlefield Live Wilmington.
“I was freaking out because it wasn’t the typical kiddie laser tag,” David Mark Chiprut said. “There were people running around with M84s and Uzes…It intrigued me…I ended up tracking down the equipment [from a company in Australia].”
Then, after David Mark Chiprut moved to Wilmington, where his parents were already living, the family got Battlefield Live officially up and running with a laser tag event on July 4, 2014, at Battleship Park.
But to simply call it laser tag is doing it a bit of an injustice. It’s full-on military simulation-style gaming that requires precision to hit smaller targets and strategy to be the last man standing (think Call of Duty sans controller and headset).
“It’s a hard business to try to describe,” Maggy Chiprut said. “When you say ‘laser tag,’ people immediately think of all these mazes and little kids running around everywhere…It’s more like a combat sport to the extent that you play outdoors, you’re running around, it requires teamwork and it’s competitive.”
Difficult to pin down or not, one thing is certain, the Chipruts said—Battlefield Live Wilmington is addictive fun for all ages and skill levels. They do recommend that children be at least seven years old, because the equipment can be difficult for the younger ones to hold and operate.
“I play, so even old people can play,” David Chiprut said, laughing.
The Chipruts said they’ve seen it all at a variety of events they’ve hosted—birthday parties, bachelor parties, festivals, fundraisers and corporate team-building exercises, among others. They’ve watched fathers reluctantly join in with their children only to end up more excited than their kids. They’ve witnessed wives become instantly hooked. They’ve observed members of the military get outsmarted by a group of youngsters.
And, vividly, they recall a Girl Scout event where one of the young players skipped happily about the course, stopping only to zap—with perfect marksmanship—her competitors.
“I call it the great equalizer because we have a lot of control over it. It’s less about personal stats and more about the team victory,” David Mark Chiprut said. “It’s about having fun. And the younger people can still participate in the overall team.”
And, David Chiprut said, it’s an efficient system of play.
“The beauty of this is there is no paint, no mess. It’s cheaper to play [than paintball]. You just show up, play and go home,” he said.
“And no bruises,” Maggy Chiprut said with a grin.
Admission to Battlefield Live Wilmington’s facility is $7 for children and $10 for adults. Regular business hours are 2 to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 1 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday and 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday. Click here for mobile package pricing and more information.
Hilary Snow is a reporter at Port City Daily. Reach her at (910) 772-6341 or hilary.s@hometownwilmington.com.
