A NEW Virtual Reality gaming centre will be opening up in a former city centre department store this week - becoming the latest leisure business to come to Bradford.

VR City is based in the former Boyes store on North Parade, and allows people to play state of the art Virtual Reality games.

The business, which opens on Friday, is now unrecognisable from the department store that shut when the Bradford branch moved to the Kirkgate Centre in 2019.

The building has been split into smaller units, and VR City looks as different as you can get from the old store - with surreal cyberpunk and heavy metal style images on the walls.

There is a row of 10 racing simulators that, when players don the VR helmets, offer a completely immersive experience of racing some of the most famous race tracks in the world.

The seats and steering wheel even shake to make it feel like you are physically on a race track.

There are also a number of booths where gamers can stand and enjoy games ranging from boxing to shoot em up survival games, where zombies come at you from every direction.

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Hasan Khan and his brother Zeeshan are behind the business, and were inspired by leisure facilities that became popular in Japan, and have recently been opening up in other UK cities.

They identified the Boyes unit, which is on the same street as some of the city’s most popular bars, as being the perfect site for the business. Bradford Council approved what is likely to have been the first planning application for a virtual reality centre in its history, and work on VR City began.

The brothers hope the business can become a popular venue for stag and hen parties and corporate events, as well as with smaller groups and individuals.

The technology allows people to play by themselves or play against other gamers.

Hasan said: “It is not new technology, it is old technology, but it hasn’t really been tapped into before. In the last four years it has really come on.

“It is immersive, it is so much fun. It is quite expensive tech, so not everyone will be able to afford it to have in their own homes.99 per cent of people have probably never tried it.”

While the arcades of old had machines that needed to be replaced if new games were brought in, any new games can just be uploaded to the units at VR City.

Mr Khan said: You can access hundreds of games. It is really future proof.

“Until recently the leisure sector in Bradford was untapped - if you wanted to do something like this you had to go to Manchester or Leeds.”

He said the business was ideally placed on North Parade, which has fast become one of the District’s most popular night out spots, and feels the business can add something new to the area’s evening economy.

It is the latest leisure business to open in an empty unit in the city centre. Indoor crazy golf business Loony Golf is soon to open in another unit in the former Boyes, while Time Trapped Escape Room has opened in a building on Hustlergate.

A former gym at the Leisure Exchange is now Funzy inflatable playground, and a Ninja Warrior centre is planned for an empty unit in Broadway.

VR City opens on Friday. For more information visit vrcity.co.uk