1UP Studios
1UP Studios is a London-based game studio building AR, VR, WebAR, and Roblox immersive experiences for museums, galleries, and educational institutions, with flagship projects for the National Gallery, British Museum, and IWM Duxford under a 'Play to Learn' philosophy.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What 1UP Studios does
1UP Studios (legal entity Arcade Ltd) is a London-based game studio founded in 2016 that designs and develops AR, VR, WebAR, and Roblox-based immersive experiences primarily for cultural institutions and educational audiences. Operating under a 'Play to Learn' philosophy and rebranded from ARCADE XR in 2024, the studio delivers project-based digital experiences to museums, galleries, heritage sites, observatories, and government bodies — clients include the National Gallery, British Museum, IWM Duxford, Royal Museums Greenwich, Kielder Observatory, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and Digital Catapult. Core technical capabilities include custom AI computer vision for artwork recognition (Keeper of Paintings), WebAR via 8th Wall (Canvas Quest), VR experiences on Meta Quest (Observer Corps VR, Digital Catapult Labs tour), Roblox game development (Keeper Council), and 360/3D heritage archives built on PlayCanvas (Hall's Croft Spatial Archive).
The studio's revenue model is predominantly project-based professional services for cultural institution contracts, supplemented by digital experience licensing through the Roblox marketplace and WebAR distribution. Marquee products include Time Odyssey (a nationally rolled-out UK museum learning adventure), the multi-product KeeperVerse storyworld centered on the Keeper of Paintings (National Gallery), Canvas Quest, Kielder Constellations, and the Observer Corps VR experience commemorating the Battle of Britain. The company has no disclosed external funding rounds and operates with a team of 11-50 employees, evidenced by three consecutive Webby Award nominations (including a 2025 nomination placing in the top 12% of 13,000 submissions) and engagement of hundreds of thousands of children and families through KeeperVerse experiences.
1UP Studios firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- 1UP Studios
- Legal name
- Arcade Ltd
- Website
- https://1upstudios.tech
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- 1UP Studios is a London-based game studio building AR, VR, WebAR, and Roblox immersive experiences for museums, galleries, and educational institutions, with flagship projects for the National Gallery, British Museum, and IWM Duxford under a 'Play to Learn' philosophy.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
1UP Studios industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Immersive Educational Games
- NAICS
- Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries (713)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- VR/AR/XR Game Studios (MPAFAAAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Educational Games & Kids/Families Game Studios (MPAFAAAI), Serious Games & Simulation Studios (Training, Defense, Enterprise) (MPAFAAAH), Virtual Worlds & Social Sandbox Experiences (persistent social spaces) (MPAFAIAG)
Keywords
Where 1UP Studios is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
1UP Studios business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Cultural Institution Project Partnerships: 1UP Studios generates revenue through project-based partnerships with museums, galleries, and cultural institutions, creating custom immersive learning experiences. Projects include Time Odyssey with British Museum, Keeper of Paintings with National Gallery, and Observer Corps VR with IWM Duxford.
- Digital Experience Licensing: The studio creates and licenses digital experiences to cultural partners, including Roblox games like Keeper Council and touring experiences like Art Road Trip.
- Heritage and Education Sector Contracts: Government and educational institution contracts for creating immersive learning experiences for schools and museums, including projects with UK Parliament, universities, and public institutions.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels5 records
1UP Studios product offering
Product offeringCore offering
1UP Studios designs and develops bespoke immersive AR, VR, WebAR, mobile, and Roblox-based games and learning experiences for museums, galleries, and cultural institutions. Its portfolio includes narrative-led educational adventures (Time Odyssey, The Keeper of Paintings), Roblox games (Keeper Council), WebAR hide-and-seek games (Canvas Quest), VR heritage experiences (Observer Corps VR), and 3D spatial archives (Hall's Croft), many of which are connected through the shared KeeperVerse storyworld.
Product overview
1UP Studios is an award-winning game studio offering a portfolio of immersive, play-based learning experiences primarily for cultural institutions. The company operates under a 'Play to Learn' philosophy, creating digital experiences that connect people to place. Their core portfolio includes museum-based learning adventures (Time Odyssey), National Gallery experiences (The Keeper of Paintings, Canvas Quest, Keeper Council, Mischievous Masterpieces), AR astronomy outreach (Kielder Constellations), heritage archives (Hall's Croft Spatial Archive), and VR historical experiences (Observer Corps VR). Many products are interconnected through the KeeperVerse storyworld, while others stand alone. The company is currently developing KeeperQuest, an AI-powered literacy game platform. Previous work under ARCADE XR includes the Zog: A Forest Adventure AR trail for Forestry England and Keeper of Measurements for the National Physical Laboratory.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- KeeperVerse: A growing collection of digital learning adventures built around the Keeper of Paintings storyworld, including The Keeper of Paintings and the Palette of Perception, Keeper Council (Roblox), The Keeper of Paintings and the Mischievous Masterpieces, and Canvas Quest.
Products and services
- Time Odyssey An immersive digital learning adventure designed for primary school children (ages 7-11) visiting UK museums, where players help four young characters displaced in time return to Ancient Egypt, Viking Sweden, Ancient China, and Roman Britain through interactive challenges. Commissioned by the British Museum in partnership with Art Explora.
- The Keeper of Paintings and the Palette of Perception A free mobile-based adventure at The National Gallery in London combining narrative gameplay, AI-powered computer vision painting recognition, and immersive AR to guide children and families through a quest to help the Keeper of Paintings recover a lost magical palette.
- Keeper Council A Roblox game combining Tycoon and Obby gameplay where players explore the KeeperVerse, meet Keepers from different cultural institutions, complete obstacle courses, and build their own mini gallery with masterpieces from The National Gallery.
- Canvas Quest A mobile and tablet hide-and-seek adventure at The National Gallery's Roden Centre for Creative Learning where players find Claws Monet (the Keeper of Paintings' cat) transformed into shapes hiding in Gallery masterpieces, powered by WebAR.
- Kielder Constellations An AR astronomy outreach experience that lets users place a miniature observatory model on a tabletop and explore the universe inside with 3D tours of cosmology, the solar system, stellar lifecycle, and the Carrington Event, narrated by Kielder Observatory's experts.
- Observer Corps VR A mobile VR experience recreating the Observer Corps role during the Battle of Britain on September 15, 1940, allowing users to step into the shoes of civilian volunteers who identified incoming aircraft for the RAF.
- Hall's Croft Spatial Archive A 360-degree immersive online archive exploring Susanna Hall's home and contents, combining PlayCanvas-built 3D scenes with digitized archive objects and second-screen AR features for researchers and heritage enthusiasts.
- Digital Catapult Labs Virtual Tour An immersive VR and web tour of Digital Catapult's London innovation labs, built in PlayCanvas with holographic guides and designed to showcase facilities to global attendees at events such as Mobile World Congress.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 36,000 unique users and 43,000+ sessions with average use time of 3+ minutes for Observer Corps VR
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use 1UP Studios
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
1UP Studios technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability9 records
Feature5 records
1UP Studios partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
26 partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and major.
- British Museumcore1UP Studios partnered with the British Museum to create Time Odyssey, an immersive learning adventure for primary schools visiting museums across the UK. The experience was developed with visual identity by Johnson Banks and represents a flagship project for museum-school engagement.
- Art ExploracoreArt Explora, an arts and culture charity, partnered with 1UP Studios and British Museum to create Time Odyssey. The organization focuses on democratizing access to arts and culture across France and beyond.
- National Gallery, Londoncore1UP Studios has an ongoing partnership with The National Gallery spanning multiple projects including The Keeper of Paintings and the Palette of Perception, Canvas Quest, and Keeper Council Roblox game. The partnership has evolved over several years, with the Keeper experience entering its third year.
- StoryFuturescoreStoryFutures collaborated on The Keeper of Paintings project as the research panel, helping validate and guide the development of the immersive experience with children.
- Open InclusionsupportingOpen Inclusion, an inclusive research and solutions consultancy, provided expertise on accessibility testing with children with disabilities, informing features such as contrast variations, font types and sizes, and text speed.
- Lawson Ward StudiosupportingArchitecture firm collaborated with 1UP Studios and National Gallery to plan the new Roden Centre for Creative Learning, integrating Keeper learning adventures into the physical space design.
- Shakespeare Birthplace Trustcore1UP Studios partnered with Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to create the Hall's Croft Spatial Archive, a virtual exploration of Susanna Hall's historic home, supporting the 'Women Who Made Shakespeare' project.
- University of BrightonsupportingDr Ailsa Grant Ferguson from University of Brighton's Literature department led the academic research behind the Hall's Croft project, focusing on women's history and early modern culture.
- Kielder ObservatorycoreKielder Observatory partnered with 1UP Studios to create Kielder Constellations, an AR experience bringing public astronomy to audiences across the UK. The experience is narrated by Kielder's Director of Astronomy and Science Communication.
- Imperial War Museum DuxfordcoreIWM Duxford approached 1UP Studios to develop the Observer Corps Experience commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, featuring historically accurate recreations developed with IWM historians.
- Digital CatapultcoreDigital Catapult commissioned 1UP Studios to create a virtual tour of their innovation labs for VR and web, showcased at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to demonstrate their facilities to global attendees.
- Royal Observatory Greenwichcore1UP Studios is developing a game with Royal Observatory Greenwich and Marvel for secondary school classrooms, where students play a computer game instead of their usual science lesson.
- Shanghai Natural History MuseumsupportingShanghai Natural History Museum hosts The Keeper of Birds game, extending the KeeperVerse storyworld to an international partner institution.
- National Physical LaboratorysupportingNational Physical Laboratory hosts The Keeper of Measurements game, part of the expanding KeeperVerse universe of cultural institution partnerships.
- DisneymajorFeatured partner logo displayed on 1UP Studios website, indicating a significant partnership relationship with Disney.
- MarvelmajorMarvel is featured as a partner and is collaborating with 1UP Studios and Royal Observatory Greenwich on an upcoming secondary school science game.
- Roald DahlmajorFeatured partner, indicating licensing or creative partnership with the Roald Dahl brand.
- MetasupportingFeatured partner, with Meta Quest VR headsets used for experiences including Digital Catapult Labs virtual tour.
- NianticsupportingFeatured partner, indicating potential collaboration in AR or location-based gaming technologies.
- University of OxfordsupportingFeatured partner, indicating academic collaboration with Oxford University.
- Royal College of ArtsupportingFeatured partner, indicating academic partnership in design and creative technology.
- UK ParliamentmajorFeatured partner, indicating significant government partnership for civic engagement or educational projects.
- Royal Museums GreenwichcoreFeatured partner, with ongoing collaboration on play-based learning experiences in the Greenwich cultural district.
- British MuseumcoreFeatured partner for Time Odyssey immersive learning project, representing flagship cultural institution collaboration.
- Welsh National OperasupportingFeatured partner, indicating cultural partnership in the performing arts sector.
- Munch MuseumsupportingFeatured international partner, the Munch Museum in Oslo housing Edvard Munch's works.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
1UP Studios competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
1UP Studios social profiles
Digital presence1UP Studios financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
1UP Studios leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
1UP Studios funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
1UP Studios M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about 1UP Studios
What does 1UP Studios do?
1UP Studios designs and develops bespoke immersive AR, VR, WebAR, mobile, and Roblox-based games and learning experiences for museums, galleries, and cultural institutions. Its portfolio includes narrative-led educational adventures (Time Odyssey, The Keeper of Paintings), Roblox games (Keeper Council), WebAR hide-and-seek games (Canvas Quest), VR heritage experiences (Observer Corps VR), and 3D spatial archives (Hall's Croft), many of which are connected through the shared KeeperVerse storyworld.
Is 1UP Studios a public or private company?
1UP Studios is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was 1UP Studios founded?
1UP Studios was founded in 2016. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is 1UP Studios based?
1UP Studios is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does 1UP Studios make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Cultural Institution Project Partnerships are the primary driver. The others are digital Experience Licensing and heritage and Education Sector Contracts.
Does 1UP Studios have an API?
No public API is recorded for 1UP Studios.
What industry is 1UP Studios in?
1UP Studios's product category is Immersive Educational Games. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAAAE, VR/AR/XR Game Studios, with a secondary code of MPAFAAAI, Educational Games & Kids/Families Game Studios. Its NAICS code is 713 and its SIC code is 7900.