The gaming industry has spent the past few years worrying about flat engagement and rising development costs. Meanwhile, one of Canada’s fastest-growing tech companies was growing exponentially by sending people out to play in a physical room.
Activate, the Winnipeg-founded “active gaming” chain, ranked No. 26 on Deloitte’s 2026 Technology Fast 50 with 958% revenue growth from 2022 to 2025, a reminder that some of gaming’s fastest growth is happening away from the console.
Activate’s 958% revenue growth, which earned it the 26th spot on Deloitte’s 2026 Technology Fast 50 list, points to a part of gaming that rarely makes industry headlines. Location-based, social play is scaling on proprietary tech rather than on game sales or subscriptions. Rapid franchise-style expansion, leagues that link venues worldwide and the appeal of play that’s physical and social could tell the broader industry something about where players now want to spend their time and money.
The Canadian in-person gaming company opened the doors of its first location in Winnipeg, back in 2019. Today, the company holds more than 85 locations across Canada, the U.S., Denmark, Germany, France, Finland, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.A.E, claiming that it has now welcomed over 14 million players.
“Being recognized by Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 program is an incredible milestone for Activate and a reflection of how far we’ve come since our opening in 2019,” said Adam Schmidt, CEO and co-founder of Activate, in a press statement.
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