Montreal, June 3, 2021 – Montreal escape room companies Échappe-Toi, Find The Key, and Vortex Montréal announce their merger.
Échappe-Toi and Find the Key were the first two companies to create escape rooms in Montreal in 2014. Vortex Montréal opened in 2019. All three companies have been hit hard by the closures related to the epidemic since March 2020. They therefore decided to work together to overcome the crisis and create a Quebec escape room champion.
Emmanuel de Gouvello, founder of Échappe-Toi, explains that “the COVID-19 crisis has created particularly complex and difficult situations, particularly in the entertainment sector. Currently, 10% of Quebec’s escape rooms have already closed.” By joining forces with Vortex Montréal and Find The Key, we hope, along with Daniel Préda and Yvan Richer, to create the largest escape room group in Quebec.
The four combined companies will represent 24 escape room locations in the city center and anticipate annual traffic of approximately 130,000 players in 2022. The group also owns a center in Bordeaux, France, which welcomes more than 30,000 players each year.
The creative activities will be grouped into a new company, Evasion Expert, which will become the first Canadian studio for the design and creation of immersive fun activities for escape games and the entertainment industry. Evasion Expert will be led by Daniel Préda (creator of Find the Key) for production and Yvan Richer (creator of Vortex Montréal) for design and scriptwriting. It plans to quickly employ around fifteen people at its premises located in the Grover Building in Montreal.
About the Échappe-Toi Group:
The Échappe-Toi Group brings together 5 entities, including 4 centers in Montreal and 1 in the city of Bordeaux. It manages a total of 24 escape room games in downtown Montreal, offering a variety of immersive adventures. The three brands that make up the Échappe-Toi group are each leaders in their category.
Practical information:
Groupe Échappe-Toi – 2244 Rue Larivière, Montréal, QC H2K 4P8 (514) 907-2200
Contact: Emmanuel de Gouvello – emmanuel@echappetoi.com – (514) 616-9192