Could a Westworld-Style Theme Park Ever Come to Fruition?

Westworld is one of the most popular sci-fi series of recent times, and part of its appeal is in its plausibility. The concept of an adult theme park in which people can feel as though they’ve travelled back in time to the Wild West is already possible to recreate, and soon it may be conceivable to fill this with human-looking robots.

If AI and robots continue to advance at the rapid rate they are currently going in, there may be Westworld-style theme parks on the horizon. However, it’s more likely that these will occur in virtual reality rather than in the real world.

The Wild West Has Always Been Popular in Interactive Entertainment

Game developers, for one, are always striving to offer greater immersion, and the game world could be heading towards virtual or real-world theme parks in which people can become someone completely different. The reason why a Westworld-style offering could potentially come to fruition is because Westerns have always been popular in gaming and continue to be made for a range of different formats.

Indeed, some of the top games ever have been in the Western genre, with Red Dead Redemption 2 a great example. In the Rockstar Games title, players got as close to being a Wild West gunslinger as is possible in the modern age. The vibrant world was highly interactive, and players were able to live a different life as Arthur Morgan. In the future, it’s likely that there will be even more advanced versions of this game in technology such as VR.

Westerns are also prevalent in other sectors of gaming, highlighting the genre’s enduring popularity. They’re often found in online casino slots lists, with Legendary Lawman Cash ‘Em All one of the newest offerings to play. There are various Western mobile titles too, such as Westland Survival and Western Sniper. All these games suggest that there would in fact be a lot of interest in a Westworld-style theme park if it was ever made.

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Westworld Could Happen as a VR Offering

In Westworld, the theme park visitors are wealthy, and this reflects the costs of running such a place. The sprawling landscape is packed full of humanoid robots that need regular maintenance, which would likely be highly expensive in real life. In comparison to the ultra-realistic robots in Westworld, today’s most advanced options are rudimentary. Still, even these cost tens of thousands of dollars to manufacture, so packing a theme park with them will most likely be financially untenable for a number of years.

If someone were to develop a Westworld-style theme park, it would most likely happen in VR rather than in real life. VR is becoming much more advanced and immersive, and soon people may be able to put on haptic suits to enter VR worlds. This might then give them a greater sense that they were there in person. It would be much cheaper to offer the experience in this way rather than in a real-world setting.

If a Westworld-inspired theme park ever happens in the real world, it may not be for decades. Robots would need to be much cheaper and way more advanced than they are now for it to work. However, there could be offerings that replicate the themes of the HBO series in VR soon.