Laser Tag at IAAPA 2025

Attending the IAAPA Expo in Orlando has become one of the absolute highlights of my year! It’s an opportunity to visit with laser tag manufacturers, talk with them about their latest innovations and keep on the pulse of what’s going on in the laser tag industry, all while visiting with friends and soaking up some sun down in Florida. :)

It is also a MASSIVE event and every year I contemplate the best way to fully showcase all of the amazing things that I see going on in the industry. Well, this year I will be offering my traditional overview of everything right here, but I will also be presenting it as a series by rolling out separate articles about what I saw from each of the laser tag manufacturers who were in attendance. This way I can give proper spotlight to all the interviews, demos and cool innovations that each one shared with me during our visits, which will also be included as part of the next episode of the Laser Unfocused Tag Talk podcast.

In this article you will get a look at my key takeaways from each one, but I’ll also add dedicated links so you can easily use this as a reference point for a more in-depth look at them all, just like I had while visiting with them at the show.

As for my own IAAPA experience, I arrived at the convention center early on Wednesday and immediately started collecting tag swag in the lobby. A “Tag, You’re It” badge pin? Yes, please!

Wednesday is what I typically call “exploration day” as I know most manufacturers will have more time to talk with me later in the week. However, this year I really hit the ground running!

And indeed, there was plenty to explore! I noticed Marc Mueller over at the Battle Company booth and went over to say hello and challenge him to a game. :)

This is when I got my first look at Battle Company’s newest innovations. The updated Titan phaser was being showcased right alongside the circular Nova that, according to Director of Sales Brian Sytkowski, they expect to have out this coming year.

The other really interesting item they were debuting was a neck sensor that can be worn in place of a headband style sensor.

The sensor flashes brightly when tagged and it was very comfortable to wear. As I am not a huge fan of head sensors, I think this seems like a really smart alternative.

Check out more from the Battle Company’s booth here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

Next I stopped over to visit with Lazer Runner president Paul Savard who showed me how they are not only producing laser tag equipment, but taking a new approach to building their own arenas as well.

These new arena walls feature trusses and open cutout designs to allow for a more open barricade style to tag around. I found it interesting to learn that they are producing these arena elements themselves and I got a practical look at the playability of the walls from Shannon Carriere.

It’s always nice to visit and see what’s new!

Learn more about what Lazer Runner had to share here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

Laserforce was on my radar because they had been teasing the unveiling of something new, which I knew they planned to debut at this show. With the benefit of hindsight, they actually hid an Easter egg for the product name right in their pre-show email blast. I headed over to get a first look at the Fusion, which according to Rohan Kelly, the Director of Laserforce Australia, is a vestless phaser that “fuses” all the features of their Gen 8 Infinity packs all right into the phaser itself.

Look ma, no vest! Also, congratulations to the Fusion on being a Brass Ring finalist in the best new product concept category.

While the Fusion can be played with just phasers, it can also augment the Gen 8, system. This phaser-only style does have practical use for operators with a smaller space, smaller budget or in place of a ref pack. I tried out the Fusion against Rohan and he demonstrated how it can be incorporated right along with the full Gen 8 system as he cycled off the packs hanging on the rack while we played.

And, although tethered, the phaser design also makes an appearance in a separate Pixel World attraction called Quickshot that I had a chance to try as well.

You can see more about my visit with Laserforce here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

Zone Laser Tag is sounding a little bit different with the addition of the new AI self help function with themes and audio cues that they have introduced to their Helios 3 system. Grant came up behind me and surprised me by dropping a Zone hat on my head!

Then he walked me through the theme selections on the phaser screen including cowboy, robot and goblin themes.

What is practical about this is that the theme voices provide audio feedback and game insights to players, such as reminding them to complete the deactivation of a base. Needless to say, I tried them all and they certainly add some fun theatrics while also helping to guide new players with hints about what to do if they forget about a goal amid the excitement of playing the game.

Also, my thanks to Jack for bringing me a vintage T-shirt from Lazer Blaze to include in the T-shirt vault I have been building for online display.

Listen and learn more about the new Zone themes here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

Delta Strike surprised me when I learned that they too were showcasing a new vestless phaser called Genesis Mobile.

I am officially calling 2025 the year of the vestless phaser! Marketing and Sales Coordinator Mitch Robertson and I traded a few tags so I could get a sense of how this new item feels.

While Delta Strike did previously have a mobile version of Evolution (which I have only ever played once) this new mobile phaser has a sleek design with sensors on the top and also front sides. Mitch pointed out that these can be used in conjunction with the full Genesis packs, but having a couple on hand could be beneficial for customers with disabilities or reasons why they may not be able to wear a full vest.

You can learn more about my visit with Delta Strike here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

When I visited iCOMBAT I got to chat with CEO Ziad Dergham who was excited about their work on an updated Barracks leaderboard and interface coupled with some upcoming new games. However, I was really intrigued by the special project he shared that they were working on for a European client. Say hello to the Destiny!

They had this model on hand to get customer response and feedback. It incorporates the essence of their Valkyrie tagger into a newly designed outer shell with a really unique aesthetic.

One of the reasons I love visiting the manufacturers at IAAPA is the opportunity to try out the newest things well ahead of most players. This one is particularly interesting and I look forward to seeing where they go with it!

Find more about my visit with iCOMBAT here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

I have always felt that Laser Blast is one company that REALLY understands the assignment when it comes to theming their booth. President Mike Ewald told me all about their 5 gigahertz modems to allow games to happen just about anywhere, “even in the most hostile environments” he said as I looked around at the prehistoric world they built at their booth as an example.

I played a sample game of CyberBlast with co-owner Carla Ewald, tagging the targets to make the flying pterodactyl light up before being joined by Laser Blast founder Tim Ewald and our not-so-furry friend dino here! ;)

While 5G is not exactly easy to show in photos, the fun they had with this booth was very evident…or egg-ident!

Check out more of what Laser Blast shared with me here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

Lasertron founder Jim Kessler actually has spent a good chunk of time talking with me about laser tag, even if not always on camera, so I was pleased that he once again made time to share some of his views with me at the show.

However, sales advisor Greg Watches went more in-depth about the equipment and game options, discussing team rebalancing for both small groups and large groups when players participate in multiple games.

Congratulations on their Brass Ring award honors for Krazy Arrows too!

See more of my visit with Lasertron here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

It has been several years since I have seen LaserMaxx represented at this expo, so it was nice to learn a bit more first-hand from Phil Aldis, the president and CEO of LaserMaxx North America, and David Van Valkengoed, here representing the manufacturer from the Netherlands, as well as Mackenzie with sales.

They expressed excitement about further expanding the product into North America and I got a chance to see the durability in action when David tossed a pack high up into the air and let it drop to the ground…

He kindly gave me use of that same pack for an impromptu game of outdoor tag, lol! Yes, it still worked fine. ;)

I also got to try their vestless phaser called Laser Play, which is a clear, phaser-only version, which David showed me with a closer look before trading a few more tags.

You can see more about my LaserMaxx experience here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

Gel Blaster Nexus had more to show me than just what was on the trade show floor as they introduced their newly updated Gen 2 model at their booth.

I played a real-world game against founder and CEO Colin Guinn during a post-show demo night held at Main Event Orlando, where he gave me a sneak peak of an auto-content generation tool being built into the system.

This upcoming feature (still in beta mode) has a phone mount on the phaser which connects when the phaser and vest are paired to provide an auto-edited video reel of your experience from both the front and back camera of your phone, recorded during the game.

Find the full story on this upcoming Gel Blaster Nexus feature here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

Elite Laser Tag has put a lot of time and tech into the release of their Battle Towers, which can be utilized in a variety of different game modes.

Owners Edward and Dana Gainer showed me how the towers are responsive with color shifts for games such as Capture the Flag and Domination.

They also welcomed Robert Peppard to their  team, who brings experience from his background as the operator of the first commercial outdoor laser tag arena in the United States. Looks like a pretty Elite squad!

Hear more about Elite Laser Tag directly from the owners here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

Natalia and James from Netronic’s team brought out an F1 Falcon tagger to show me some features that people may not realize can be easily switched, such as fire and weapon modes, by simply pressing a button.

James demonstrated durability by deliberately dropping the tagger (say THAT three times fast!) as captured mid-fall.

And to make sure that I remember that phaser drop whenever I drop my keys, they sent me off with Netronic Falcon keychains as tag swag. :)

See what else Netronic shared with me here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

I paid a visit to ZTAG, which I consider to be something of a hybrid between laser tag and general social gaming. There is no phaser for this game, however IR sensors do come into play.  It is essentially what I call “proximity tag” in as much as the signal is sent and received from these wrist sensors when one player gets close to another.

Founder Quan Gan shared some insights about their version 3 portable modular system, citing how the wheels on the system make it easily portable.

Quan helped me to put my wristband on and, having experienced this game firsthand before, I can tell you that the chase is on when the game starts because catching up with other opponents for proximity rather than tagging for accuracy is a completely different way to approach tag when there is no phaser involved!

Hear more about ZTAG here: (ARTICLE/VIDEO LINK COMING SOON)

So now you have a pretty good idea of how I spent the bulk of my IAAPA week! But what do I say when I go back to real life and they ask me “what do you do at these trade shows?” I just smile and show them something like this…

Thank you to my friends at Froggy’s Fog for letting me have some fun with that amazing Thanos fog blaster machine!

Seriously though, what I do at these shows is keep up with the latest innovations while also catching up with friends. It was great to see so many familiar faces at this gathering on Wednesday night.

I also enjoy catching up with all the women who show up and show out with our manicures (aka the IAAPAcures) each year to bring some extra glitz.

Ryan McQuillan (former ILTA director) knows a lot about laser tag, but I really put him to the test trying to identify which phaser was which as I represented a different each laser tag manufacturer with each individual nail design.

Of course there is great networking…broadcasting ladies unite!

And it’s always great to see friends! Wishing lots of luck to Shane Zimmerman in his new position with Shaffer Distributing.

And I always enjoy crossing paths with Bob Cooney, once and always one of the early innovators of the laser tag industry.

Of course you never know who (or what) you might find out on the show floor!

I also collected my fair share of “tag swag”

IAAPA 2025 was an excellent opportunity to stay on top of the latest happenings in the laser tag industry and as always I had a wonderful time while I was there. IAAPA truly is the premier event for the global attractions industry and I am so pleased that I was once again able to be right there to share and appreciate all that the laser tag industry brings to the party.

Comments or Questions? 

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com 

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com

and www.photonforever.com

and http://www.lasertagmuseum.com