HADO USA Technology Sports Inc. is celebrating an exclusive agreement with Meleap Inc. that will accelerate the future of sports in the USA.
HADO is the first-ever physical esport in the world using Augmented Reality (AR) technology. Unlike Virtual Reality (VR), HADO players aren’t restricted by the cumbersome cables, controllers, and screens required to navigate virtual environments. The more well-known Virtual Reality (VR) takes you into the digital world while Augmented Reality (AR) brings digital elements into your world. HADO players run freely within real-world arena battles, wearing wireless head mounted displays and wrist motion sensors, using only gestures to unleash super powered projectiles on opponents.
Street Fighter uses hadoken
Meleap Inc. CEO, Hiroshi Fukuda and the founder of the leading-edge AR technology sport HADO, dreamed of throwing “hadoken” or a special attack fireball, like in the comics, on TV, and in the popular arcade game Street Fighter. This passion burned inside until HADO was realized as a sport in 2014. Today, players can strap on head-mounted displays and armband sensors to wield energy balls and shields on a real-world court as if by magic.
Hiroshi Fukuda and Shane Vander Kooi
Fukuda proudly held an offline ceremony celebrating the partnership agreement with HADO USA Technology Sports Inc. and its founder and CEO, Shane Vander Kooi.
“It was such an honor to be hosted at the brand new Meleap world headquarters and flagship HADO Arena in Tokyo. To finally meet the creator and visionary behind the worlds first AR physical techno sport, CEO Hiroshi Fukuda, along with the Board of Directors was an event I’ve really been looking forward to,” posted Vander Koi in a recent social media post.
“I especially appreciated the warm hospitality of CBO, Kent Lim, and Sales Director Jocelyn Bouchet. We have lots of exciting HADO news to share with America so stay tuned!”
The two companies started the negotiation online two years ago during the pandemic to search for the best opportunities to work together to lay the foundation for HADO in the US market, concluding an agreement in November 2021.
HADO USA CEO at HADO Japan HQ
“We feel very honored that the team at meleap has placed their trust in us with this exclusive partnership,” shared Vander Kooi, HADO USA CEO. “HADO is ideally positioned to capitalize on the extraordinary growth trends fueled by GenZ engagement in esports, gaming, sport and immersive entertainment as well as the convergence of the new economies embodied by the metaverse, blockchain and creator communities,” Vander Kooi continued.
HADO has already been experienced by over 2.5M people and rapidly expanded to dozens of countries through a global community of arenas and teams. Sports, fitness, entertainment and community are the four main elements of HADO. Crossing the boundaries between sports and gaming in the 5G era, HADO is positioned to bring the metaverse into the real world.
“What was especially worth noting about this competition is that meleap has taken the innovative step by making fans a part of the game via their proprietary Wow Live app. This entertainment platform app is used to not only view a live-stream of these celebrity HADO matchups, but is used as a tipping platform empowering fans with the ability to sway the game in favor of their favorite players and teams,” Vander Kooi told South Florida Tech Hub. “HADO is already the world’s first physical augmented reality sport and is pioneering a transformation of both sports and the spectator experience,” he continued.
HADO arena in Japan
The AR techno sport is played 3-on-3 within a real-life court or arena with individual fast-paced, highly physical games lasting 80 seconds each. (See video below.) “HADO allows players to literally, Get in the Game! We look forward to expanding the HADO community throughout the US and joining the international HADO community”, said Vander Koi.
Based on this exclusive partnership, both companies are eager to put more resources in one of the biggest markets in the world to establish a strong footing for the location-based-entertainment (LBE) business, as well as to explore the potential online entertainment business opportunities.
“In the immediate future we look forward to announcing a number of exciting new HADO activations, including one opening in Las Vegas next month. We are also in discussions with multiple collegiate and scholastic partners and hope to begin piloting league play shortly,” Vander Kooi told South Florida Tech Hub. “As a start-up here in the US, we are raising capital to support our aggressive expansion plans and welcome interest from potential strategic and investment partners. We’re looking forward to developing and supporting a HADO community across the country and furthering our partnership with meleap in Japan!”
The perfect integration of AR technologies and physical sport continues to evolve, bringing a whole new level of excitement to all demographics in the market! Now is the time to join HADO USA and Get in the Game by visiting hado-usa.com .