Squid Game Leads Immersive Gamebox’s Corporate Team-Building Bookings

What corporate bookings reveal

Immersive Gamebox’s corporate booking mix points to a preference for activities built around shared action. From January through August 2026, Squid Game appeared in half of the company’s corporate bookings. Box Party ranked second at 21%, while Escape AI accounted for 9%. Those figures describe bookings at one company, so they shouldn’t be mistaken for a survey of the entire corporate events market. Still, the gap between the top choice and the other listed games is striking.

The pattern suggests that many of these customers are choosing a recognisable, high-energy group experience. A game that asks colleagues to make decisions together gives an event a common focus; participants have something immediate to discuss and respond to, rather than relying on conversation alone. That can make an activity easier to join for people who don’t know one another well, though the booking figures don’t show how participants felt about the experience or whether it changed their relationships afterward.

Box Party’s second-place showing points to demand for a different sort of shared play, while Escape AI’s smaller share shows that the bookings aren’t concentrated in a single title. The source doesn’t explain why customers chose each game, and the numbers don’t reveal whether companies were repeat customers or first-time visitors. That distinction matters: a booking mix can show what’s being selected, but it can’t by itself explain what employees value or what businesses hope to achieve.

December drives demand

Immersive Gamebox says December is its busiest month for corporate events, with bookings 309% above the average month. That’s a substantial seasonal spike, and it gives businesses a practical reason to plan festive team activities early. It also suggests demand is uneven across the year: a strong December can shape staffing and availability needs in ways that a monthly average won’t capture.

For organisers, early planning is less about chasing a trend than securing a suitable date and activity during a busy period. A group event has several moving parts, including schedules, attendance and the preferences of people who may not share the same idea of fun. Choosing an activity with a clear structure can make the decision simpler, but it still helps to think about who’ll take part and whether the format suits the group.

Seasonality also puts the headline figure in context. A booking level 309% above the average month tells readers that December stands out for this company; it doesn’t tell them how many events take place in a typical month, how long the seasonal peak lasts or whether the demand is growing year to year. Here’s the thing: a large percentage difference can sound dramatic while leaving the underlying volume unclear.

Designed around interaction

Lisa Paton, CEO of Immersive Gamebox, says the games pair entertainment with opportunities for teams to build relationships. Players need to communicate clearly, listen to colleagues and trust one another while solving puzzles and navigating challenges. Paton also says the immersive setting can limit distractions and help players stay focused.

That description highlights the activity’s intended mechanics, rather than proving a lasting workplace benefit. Shared tasks can prompt colleagues to exchange information and coordinate their decisions, which may feel different from a conventional meeting or a set of icebreaker questions. But a game’s ability to hold attention during play isn’t the same as evidence that communication improves once employees return to work. The source doesn’t provide follow-up measures, so that distinction should stay in view.

And yet, the format has an intuitive appeal: it gives people a reason to interact without asking them to begin with personal disclosure or unstructured small talk. A common challenge can take some pressure off the social side of a team event. (And this is the part most people overlook.) The activity still depends on who’s in the room, how the group responds and whether the experience feels welcoming to participants with different preferences.

One clear goal: shared attention.

More bookings, bigger questions

Immersive Gamebox recorded 2,793 corporate bookings in 2025, 50% more than the year before. The increase suggests that more businesses are trying interactive activities in place of conventional away days and icebreakers. It’s a meaningful rise for the company, though bookings alone don’t establish why demand increased or whether every event replaced another kind of team activity.

The distinction matters for interpreting the figures. A booking is a measure of customer activity, not a direct measure of employee satisfaction, repeat attendance or business impact. The company’s results can show that organisations are paying for this format; they can’t tell us, on their own, whether employees found the experience useful or whether the same businesses will book again.

The wider concern about workplace connection gives the category some context. Research published earlier this year found that 42% of employees said workplace loneliness had led them to consider leaving or to leave a job, while 16% said they had no friends at work. Those figures point to a real challenge, but they don’t establish that a team event will solve it. A single activity can create time for colleagues to interact; sustained connection depends on what happens across the working week as well.

Team activities can help colleagues build relationships that support communication, collaboration and morale. The value is likely to depend on whether the event fits the team and whether people can take part comfortably, rather than on the novelty of the setting alone. If you’re working in this space, the useful question isn’t simply which game attracts the most bookings. It’s whether the experience gives different members of a team a fair chance to contribute.

What the trend means for organisers

Immersive Gamebox’s figures make a case for demand, especially around December, while leaving important questions open about outcomes. The company reports a clear preference among its corporate customers for Squid Game, strong seasonal demand and a rise in bookings from 2024 to 2025. Those are concrete indicators of interest. They’re less conclusive on whether interactive events produce better team relationships than other formats.

That doesn’t make the numbers unhelpful. They give organisers a view of what one provider’s customers are booking and when, and they underline the practical value of planning ahead for a busy period. But businesses choosing an event should weigh the format against their own team’s needs, not assume that popularity is proof of suitability. The numbers here are persuasive on demand, and modest on what happens afterward.

Immersive Gamebox discusses choosing suitable activities here.