Entry No. 30 — the Buffalo file — filed under: vr
Orion's Landing
For five years Orion's Landing ran the region's only room-scale VR arcade on the second floor at 3800 Lakeshore Rd on the Blasdell lakeshore: multiplayer free-roam VR and VR escape games at about $30 an hour, a growing wall of retro cabinets including Galaga, NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat, plus a full bar with video-game-themed cocktails and a kitchen turning out fresh-dough pizza, poutine and tater tots. Co-owner Ken Milligan opened it in 2021 as an independent local operation, not a chain. As of summer 2026 the party is paused: the homepage now reads "our lease at Orions Landing has come to an end," followed by "this is not goodbye" and a plan to reopen at a new location in fall 2026. Right now there is no floor to walk into.
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The story
Ken Milligan opened Orion's Landing in June 2021 on the second floor at 3800 Lakeshore Road, on the Route 5 strip south of Buffalo, on a premise he stated plainly: 'The entire industry has been driven toward home use because it's so easy to just download a game and play.' His argument: convenience had quietly eaten the social half of gaming. His fix was a room you had to physically go to, with other people already in it. It was independent, not a franchise unit, and for five years the region's only room-scale VR arcade.
The floor plan followed. Free-roam VR gave each player around a hundred square feet and could run eight at once on individual high-end PC stations, loaded with more than a dozen games built for arcades, not living rooms — player-versus-player and co-op, picked to avoid motion sickness, with a staff 'VR ambassador' walking you in. Next to that, VR escape rooms titled Call of Blood, Cyberpunk, Sanctum and Save Notre-Dame on Fire. Thirty minutes ran $20 a player, an hour $30, an escape room $30; minimum age eight. Then the analogue half: a wall of retro cabinets including Galaga, NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat, a splatter paint room, a full bar pouring craft beer and video-game-themed cocktails, and a kitchen doing fresh-dough pizza, poutine and tater tots.
As of summer 2026 there is no floor to walk into. The homepage now opens with 'After 5 amazing years at 3800 Lakeshore, our lease at Orions Landing has come to an end,' then 'This is not goodbye. We're going to take this time as we work on our next location. We plan to reopen this fall.' No new address has been announced. The rest of the site was never swept — the VR pages, prices and old Wednesday-through-Sunday hours are all still up, which is how people keep finding this out in the parking lot.
What it's like
Right now what happens when you visit is that you drive to 3800 Lakeshore Road and find a vacated second floor, so don't. The booking flow and the Wednesday-through-Sunday hours still live on the site, but they are leftovers from the old space; the closure notice at the top of the homepage is the only current thing on it. Treat this as a watch item rather than a plan: check orionslanding.com for the fall 2026 reopening and the new address, and if a date lands, take opening weekend, when the rigs are freshly calibrated and the staff are still over-explaining the controls. When it does come back, expect to reserve VR by the slot instead of arriving cold — free-roam capped at eight players — and expect the bar and kitchen to be the reason you stay well past your hour.
The move: Not tonight — the Lakeshore Rd space is vacated. The move is to watch orionslanding.com for the fall 2026 reopening announcement and book a VR slot for opening weekend, when the new room will be at its shiniest.
📍 Before you go CLOSED between locations as of summer 2026. The former space was 3800 Lakeshore Rd (Rt 5), Floor 2, Blasdell NY 14219; the website still shows stale Fri–Sun hours, so ignore them. New address not yet announced — check the site (phone was 716-541-0102) before planning anything.
- 📍 Blasdell
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Pocketeer Billiards & Bar — Pinball Alley — The working substitute while you wait: over 100 pinball machines behind a Clinton Street pool hall, with a bar attached and no lease trouble.
- Expressive Glass — Same road, still open — the analogue version of book-a-slot-and-do-something-with-your-hands, about a mile north on Lake Shore Rd.
- Penn Dixie Monthly Stargazing — A couple of minutes from the old address in Blasdell, and the reason to keep driving south anyway if you'd already committed to the trip.
More weird in Buffalo
Good to know
Is it open?
No. The lease at 3800 Lakeshore Road ended after five years and the space is vacated as of summer 2026. The homepage says 'this is not goodbye' and that they plan to reopen this fall at a new location.
Where is the new location?
Not announced. The only source that will say first is orionslanding.com; the number on record for the old space was 716-541-0102.
The website still shows hours and a Book Now button — can I use those?
No. The VR pages, the price list and the Wednesday-through-Sunday hours are stale from the previous space. Only the notice at the top of the homepage reflects reality.
What did it cost when it was running?
Per player: $20 for 30 minutes of VR, $30 for an hour, $35 for two 30-minute experiences, $30 for a VR escape room, ages 8 and up. Arcade cabinets, bar and kitchen were priced separately. Nothing about the new location's pricing has been announced.
Was it a chain?
No — an independent local operation, opened by co-owner Ken Milligan in June 2021.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · stepoutbuffalo.com
last checked: 2026-08-25