Don’t Fear the Fall Changes Propel Columnist into an Exciting 2026 By Clint Novak, Business Development Manager, A&A Global Industries For those of us in the family entertainment industry, December is a time of both high-octane execution and quiet reflection. We’re deep in the holiday rush, but we’re also starting to think about the year that was and the new one on the horizon. For me, this December marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter, and I wanted to share it with you, the community I’ve been so proud to be a part of. As many of you know,…
Author: RePlay Editor
Game Changers How Fowling Warehouse and Holey Moley Redefine Social Play by Barry Zelickson This month, Fun Across America takes you on a trip to two very special locations: Fowling Warehouse and Holey Moley. Everything about our industry revolves around social play, but these two venues are next-level. Read why. • • • Fowling Warehouse www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrM5wmqNPQw At our visit to the Fowling Warehouse in Atlanta, one thing was immediately clear: simple games, when packaged right, can drive serious social engagement. What started as a tailgate accident – football plus bowling pins – has grown into a scalable attraction that thrives on…
The Ups and Downs Continue by Adam Pratt, Arcade Galactic & ArcadeHeroes.com With this being the last issue of RePlay in 2025, it’s the right time to reflect on how things went this year as we look to the future. At the midpoint of a roller-coaster decade, business was once again all over the place, just as it has been since 2020. This time last year, we were discussing how there was no pattern to earnings anymore. I used to be able to reliably expect highs in the summer and during the holidays, with lows in the months when school…
No Experience Required by Jack Guarnieri, Jersey Jack Pinball & PinballSales.com Experience, according to the Collins English Dictionary, is knowledge or skill in a particular job or activity which is gained by doing that job or activity for a long time. They do not define a “long time,” but it’s while doing the job. Before you interview and hire someone, is experience one of the qualifications? Most often, the answer is yes, but you see many jobs advertise “no experience necessary.” These are typically entry-level, unskilled labor positions and usually not well paid. If you hire a tradesperson to work…
Earning Our Keep How the Best Operators Will Win in 2026 by Howard McAuliffe, Partner, Pinnacle Entertainment Group Well, we made it. We’re closing the books on 2025, and as we stand on the threshold of 2026, the industry-wide numbers are telling a story some of you already know. The post-pandemic “revenge spending” boom is officially over. The easy money is gone. Let’s not sugarcoat it: most locations are reporting that they are down 5% to 10% from the highs of the last couple of years. The inflationary pressures on the consumer, the return of student loan payments, the simple…
Dark Escape Games Launches at IAAPA Looking for something new? How about a whole new category of fun: arcade cabinet-sized escape rooms? That’s exactly what Dark Escape Games debuted in the AVS Companies booth at IAAPA Expo with two brand-new titles Clown Around and Pyramid Scheme. (Clown Around was an IAAPA Brass Ring Finalist in the Best New Product category.) The business is the brainchild of Sean Tyler, who’s been involved with custom game room lighting manufacturing for the past 15 years (think those great, oftentimes branded, lights above pool tables). With his Dark Escape Games, Tyler is bringing to market…
One of the greatest TV series of all time was the saga of Walter White called Breaking Bad. And one of its most memorable scenes came when a meth-addicted wife pushed a stolen ATM machine onto her meth-addicted husband’s head. (Shades of Mortal Kombat!) This bit of marital anger not only resulted in “instant divorce” but in the machine’s cash vault dropping open. The show’s writers exercised a bit of poetic license here, but the story of ATM larceny isn’t poetic at all. Besides the more classic ways thieves have been getting at the cash, now comes blowing them up.…
A Legacy that Plays On The 4th Generation Joins Sacoa; Powerhouse Partners Program Debuts From the golden age of seaside amusement centers in Argentina to today’s global cashless revolution, Sacoa has always been a family story. Founded more than six decades ago by father-son duo Mauricio and Jorge Mochkovsky, Sacoa Entertainment began as a small chain of FECs that would later give birth to Sacoa Cashless, one of the world’s leading pioneers in debit card systems for the amusement industry. Sacoa’s technology “empowers operators to streamline operations, boost profitability, and enhance the guest experience through an integrated ecosystem of readers,…
Dates and Events are Subject to Change. Check with each organization to confirm that the event will go on as scheduled and monitor your Instant RePlay email newsletters for updates. Submit events for inclusion by emailing [email protected]. January 13-15: EAG Expo 2026; ExCeL London, London, U.K.; eagexpo.com February 1-3: IAAPA FEC Summit 2026; The Wigwam Resort, Glendale, Ariz.; www.iaapa.org March 16-19: Amusement Expo International 2026; Las Vegas Convention Center, Resorts World and The Westgate; www.amusementexpo.org April 13-16: CinemaCon 2026; Caesars Palace, Las Vegas; cinemacon.com Submit events for inclusion by emailing [email protected].
The Early Line on New Games at IAAPA by Adam Pratt, Arcade Galactic & ArcadeHeroes.com Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another pre-IAAPA Expo write-up of new amusements I expect to see at the show, games that will help shape the industry as we crawl our way into the latter half of the decade. I do want to stress that this is an incomplete preview, crafted well before many companies finalize their game announcements and exhibition plans. As you know, some companies completely withhold details on what they are bringing. I’ll do my best with some educated guessing in some of…