March 2025 brought a broad mix of new arcade venues, from pinball bars and free-play halls to family entertainment centres, sportainment destinations and a museum packed with historic games. Here is a regional tour of the openings and major updates reported during the month.
For Australian operators and enthusiasts, the month’s news shows how varied the modern arcade model has become. Classic cabinets, imported games, pinball, food, bowling, racing and social entertainment are increasingly sharing the same spaces. Planning a home setup? Our arcade machine buying guide explains some of the same cabinet considerations that venues face.
North America
Antisocial Pinball — Toronto, Canada
Antisocial Pinball opened late in 2024 and describes itself as Canada’s largest pinball arcade. Its collection combines older machines with newer tables, supported by a smaller selection of video games. One photographed cabinet appears to be Maximum Tune 3DX. Updates and venue photos are available on their Facebook page.
Elston Electric — Chicago, Illinois
Elston Electric is a large bar arcade inside Chicago’s Salt Shed venue, created through a collaboration involving 16 On Center, Logan Arcade and consultant Jim from No Cash Value. Its line-up spans retro favourites, rare titles, imports, pinball and more familiar family-entertainment and ticket-redemption games. Food is also part of the offer, including options from Pizza Friendly Pizza. Further coverage appeared in RePlay and Eater Chicago.
The Circuit Arcade Bar — Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville added another bar arcade with The Circuit. Its mixed-era selection includes Aliens Armageddon, Killer Instinct, Space Invaders Frenzy and Mortal Kombat 3. The venue shares updates on Instagram.
Pop’s Pinball Parlor No. 2 — Medford, Massachusetts
Following its Somerville venue, which opened in 2023, Pop’s Pinball Parlor launched a second site in Medford. The tables include the vintage title The Games, alongside The Addams Family and Twilight Zone. The venue has a distinctly late-1970s and early-1980s visual character. RePlay’s report and the venue’s Instagram account provide additional coverage.
Taroko Sports — Katy, Texas
Taroko Sports combines batting cages and other sporting activities with a substantial arcade. The games include multiple basketball machines, four-player linked Asphalt Moto Blitz DX cabinets, UNIS’s Monster Kart, the original Assault Model version of Halo Fireteam Raven and Pump It Up Phoenix 2024. Details are available from Taroko Sports.
Max Funland No. 2 — Bensonhurst, New York
Max Funland opened its second New York location soon after launching its first Brooklyn venue. The selection again appears to focus almost entirely on imported Chinese amusement products. A notable inclusion is the single-player version of VR Agent, which was sold in China through Wahlap and had only limited Western showings through Sega Amusements.
Wunderland No. 5 — Salem, Massachusetts
Electric Castle converted a former Costco site into its fifth Wunderland. The wider venue is planned to include an indoor go-kart track and laser tag arena, although those attractions had not opened at the time of the report. The arcade began with a soft opening roughly a week earlier, offering a conventional family-entertainment mix of redemption games and Raw Thrills releases.
The Juncture — New Caney, Texas
This family-owned venue combines an arcade with a self-service ramen café. Its photographed game area includes an Asian neon crane with distinctive branding, several classic machines and additional games outside the pictured section. That unusual arcade-and-food combination was covered by Community Impact.
Big Sky Arcadia No. 3 — Belgrade, Montana
Independent operator Big Sky Arcadia opened its third location in Belgrade. The video-game selection appears relatively small, but includes the newer Angry Birds Boom!, while several pinball machines sit near the entrance. The operator’s website and Facebook page provide venue information.
Scrappleland — Brooklyn, New York
Scrappleland is a pinball bar and arcade part-owned by the operator of Brooklyn’s existing Sunshine Laundromat. Its opening adds another distinct style to Brooklyn’s recent arcade activity, alongside the imported-game focus of Max Funland and other specialised venues. Together, these openings demonstrate that New York’s expensive operating environment can still support arcades when the concepts and game mixes are differentiated.
Other North American openings and updates
- Dave & Buster’s Times Square was remodelled and relaunched.
- Dave & Buster’s Edina, Minnesota received a redesign featuring Top Gun Maverick.
- Round1USA opened in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
- Betson furnished Incredibowl Entertainment in Toledo, Ohio.
- Family Entertainment Group opened Okanarama Game Hall at a resort.
- PINSTACK opened its largest location to date in Westlake, Texas.
- Treasure Island expanded The Cove arcade and bar in Las Vegas.
- Game On Arcade + Bar in Maryland is moving to a larger venue.
- In The Game in Las Vegas replaced its human crane with pinball machines.
- Velocity eSports unexpectedly closed its Schaumburg location, despite having recently completed a maimai DX test. Its position in a mall with Dave & Buster’s and Enterrium, and limited differentiation beyond esports, may have contributed to the difficult situation.
- Wilcox Arcade continued expanding its route with independent arcade video games rather than crane machines.
Europe
European openings during March leaned more towards bar arcades than the free-play venues featured in the previous report, although both models remain represented.
NQ64 — Nottingham, England
NQ64 opened in Nottingham after reportedly being announced several years earlier. The launch ends a long period with few substantial arcade options in the city beyond standard family venues, many attached to bowling centres. Its familiar formula centres on 1980s and 1990s games, with selected later titles including OutRun 2, Mario Kart, Rambo, Guitar Hero Arcade and maimai Finale. Reports indicated that machine condition was uneven even at opening.
The Four Quarters — London Bridge, England
The Four Quarters began in London in 2014 and continues to add venues, mainly within the capital. The London Bridge site is not the chain’s largest, but includes Rave Racer, Tekken 6, Daytona USA and Stern’s Godzilla pinball.
High Score — Worcester, England
High Score opened its seventh location in Worcester as a free-play arcade. One especially unusual cabinet is the arcade version of LAI Games’ 2018 indie title Lethal Lawns. The game was tested in late 2019 and early 2020 but never entered full production, and a planned appearance at AEI 2020 did not proceed. Another proposed indie arcade conversion, Beam Team, was also cancelled. Because the cabinet is so rare in the United Kingdom, even the game’s developer was unsure how it reached the venue; its design appears particularly suitable to free play.
Other European openings and updates
- Milton Keynes gained a Lane7 venue with an arcade.
- Funstation Leeds announced its opening date.
- Hollywood Bowl Liverpool received an update.
- Sega prize zones were scheduled to receive Sonic content across Superbowl UK venues during Easter.
- A French shopping centre added a Smile World family entertainment centre.
Asia, the Middle East and Oceania
Netmarble Game Museum — Seoul, South Korea
South Korean game company Netmarble opened a museum at its headquarters dedicated to the history and culture of games. The collection numbers 2,100 games, with a significant arcade component. Among the displayed material is a Pong machine, making the museum relevant to arcade historians as well as fans of the company’s games.
Other regional openings and updates
- GiGO rebranded Game Fantasian Okazaki as its largest location to date.
- Bandai Namco opened Idolmaster Tours “Producers Stations” at several Namco venues.
- Taito postponed Exbar Plus Tokyo for Akihabara until late April.
- Amusement & Game Maghreb moved into a new venue.
- DREAMFUNS opened a new You Zone arcade in China.
Coming soon
- Dave & Buster’s was scheduled to open in Lansing Township, Michigan, in April.
- Sandbox VR planned its 60th location in Pennsylvania for April.
- B&B Theaters announced a future site with arcade entertainment.
- Andretti Indoor Karting planned a second Arizona family entertainment centre.
- Tarpon Springs, Florida, received approval for a planned arcade.
- Freeplay announced a third Massachusetts site in Taunton.
- York in the United Kingdom is set to receive the pinball venue Oh Flip!
- Chuck E. Cheese announced its first Australian location.
For venue owners, collectors and players, the March round-up reinforces one useful point: successful arcades do not follow a single template. Pinball specialists, bar venues, free-play halls, imported-game centres and mixed-activity family destinations are all finding their own audiences.
That variety also matters at home. Whether you are comparing a full-size upright arcade, a compact bartop cabinet or a virtual pinball machine, the best choice depends on the games, space and style of play you want to support.
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