Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. is teaming up with Time Warner Inc. to open a family entertainment center at its new casino in Macau to woo vacationing Chinese with a Batman ride and other facilities that feature superhero characters.

Melco Crown, headed by billionaires Lawrence Ho and James Packer, is building a 30,000-square-foot (2,787-square-meter) Warner Bros. Family Entertainment Center that will include other features with DC Comics characters such as “Superman,” “Wonder Woman” and “The Flash,” the company said today.

The $3.2 billion Studio City casino resort, inspired by Hollywood, is scheduled to open in the third quarter, Ho, chief executive officer and co-chairman, said at press conference in Macau. The company aims to have 400 gambling tables and 1,600 rooms from two hotels at the project located in the increasingly popular Cotai area in Macau, he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping last month urged Macau leader Fernando Chui to diversify its economy that relied on the casino industry for more than 80 percent of total government revenue. The former Portuguese colony suffered the worst year in 2014 after recording the first annual decline in casino revenue as Xi’s anti-corruption drive turned away high-end players.

The president called on Macau, the only Chinese city that legally allows casino gambling, to nurture new growth areas and turn the city into a world tourism and leisure center.

The new casino will have a virtual reality Batman ride as well as a 130-meter tall Ferris wheel, inspired by the film’s two asteroids shooting through a Gotham City building, according to the company.

Melco Crown said Jan. 2 that it will delist from the Hong Kong stock exchange because of low trading volume and significant additional costs, while keeping its Nasdaq listing.

The move isn’t related to the Macau gambling slowdown nor China’s anti-graft campaign, Ho said today.