60 Seconds With Greg Bacorn

Greg Bacorn, BA ’07, started Barron Games just six months after he graduated from UB. He was teaching at a local school when he and his former wife decided to upgrade a standard air hockey table by adding a ticket dispenser, so players could win prizes. They sourced a manufacturer in Taiwan, displayed it at a game conference, and the rest is history. Now a multimillion-dollar company, the Buffalo-based Barron Games distributes customized QuadAir air hockey tables (their invention and most popular item, which allows up to four people to play with four pucks) and other amusements to organizations and individuals around the world. 

How did you get into customization? 

It was a segment of the market not tapped into. First, Capital One approached us for custom games for their employee break rooms. Then, Sega Amusements asked for custom “Sonic the Hedgehog” air hockey tables. We even made a custom QuadAir that appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” 

Who is your most typical client for customized games?

Universities. We are part of the Association of College Unions International (ACUI), which represents student unions and activity centers in the U.S., and we do all the games for them. We even created a foosball table for the UB football team locker room in which the “players” have jersey numbers and the Bulls logo emblazoned on their chests. 

You also distribute a virtual reality game called ‘Birdly.’ 

“Birdly” is wild. It’s a motion platform in which you can interact with multiple worlds. You lie on the game and “fly” by moving your wings (arms). There’s also a headset for audio and visuals, and a fan that blows air on you depending on how fast you go! You can fly over cities like Zurich and New York City, go back to the Jurassic Period, and even dive into a coral reef. 

Is VR your next big market?

Absolutely. Coin operation in the VR arena is just taking off. I never thought I’d get into VR because most of our products are competition games. But then, “Koliseum” (also distributed by Barron Games) combined physical reality and virtual reality, and it broke the mold. In 2019, we were at a European show and saw “Birdly,” and I thought they were out of our league. But SOMNIACS AG, the “Birdly” inventor, approached us because they knew of our success with “Koliseum” and asked us to be their North American distributor. [“Birdly” can now be found at family entertainment centers in several large American cities.]

What are your goals for yourself and your company? 

One is to incorporate “Birdly” into a zipline company in South America. I want to go beyond the coin-op world and move into attractions. We’re working with custom content to allow people to “zipline” even if they’re physically unable to: they’re too old, too young, or have certain disabilities. We want to give people who are scared or nervous the chance to “fly.”