Room Escape Artist

To answer this question, we are thrilled to welcome Marcelo Morales to the RECON Laval stage!

What’s an escape room business worth?

Marcelo Morales built a multi-location escape room business through acquisitions and original builds. He’ll share his perspective on the value of an escape room business and what choices you can make to increase of decrease that value.

Whether you’re looking to grow your business, or just understand how to run a healthy one, Marcelo will share lessons you can bring back to your own escape room or immersive gaming business.

About Marcelo

Marcelo is a senior project manager for an industrial production line manufacturer and a multi-location escape room owner operating approximately 18 active games across four locations under Encrypted Escape and Captured LV in PA and MD, with experience growing businesses through both acquisitions and original builds. By day, he manages multimillion-dollar industrial projects where capital planning, risk management, and execution discipline are critical. By night, he enters the realm of escape room design, construction and their finances.

He has built games, evaluated, purchased, and integrated existing escape room businesses and learned firsthand that the real challenge begins after the deal closes. Replacing aging games, funding rebuilds, managing cash flow, and maintaining guest experience often cost more than expected, even as acquisitions reduce early risk by avoiding permitting and build-out. His decisions focus on long-term profitability through disciplined reinvestment, careful use of capital, and resisting short-term growth that quietly erodes margins over time.