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 would start and stop. Now, I never know what’s going to happen. In November 2023, I saw the worst percentage drop in business for that particular month, which was historically in my top three (it turned out to be my worst-performing month of the year).
Outside of a freak drop in December 2024, my worst month this past year was October, which, not likely coincidentally, was also the worst for movie theater box office revenue in 27 years! That drop at the movies seemed to spill over into my business, which makes sense since I’m in a mall that has an IMAX theater, and usually, if the theater is busy, I am too. Also disruptive to my business patterns is the impact of the 2019 opening of a big, multi-million-dollar FEC down the hall from me.
Overall, 2025 hasn’t been great, and I said the same thing about 2023 and 2024. I was hoping we’d see a turnaround, but that hasn’t happened – at least not for me. I’ve also been hearing through the grapevine that it’s been like that for many of you out there, too: no pattern and no improvement year-on-year, pushing you to find ways to adapt and save. Unfortunately, there have been some closures out there, and FECs and related big entertainment chains aren’t immune either.
Speaking broadly about the industry – and on a positive note – this year brought a good number of new games. By my count, over 40 new video and pinball titles debuted with more that were seen at IAAPA becoming available before the New Year’s Eve bell strikes. There were even more when you add in the new redemption games. Unfortunately, if you went all-in on the VR horse, you’ve seen a substantial decline, but some locations that were exclusively VR pivoted to include more arcade amusements. That strategy appears to be working for them.
We have options, so if you can afford them, use them.
Forecast 2026
So where does that leave us as we head into a new year? “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.” While that’s the saying I use as my modus operandi, it starts to wear on you after a while, especially when reports show a continued trend.
Still, we just had Thanksgiving, so let me express some gratitude for what is going right first. Aside from still being in business, I’m grateful to have eliminated some long-standing debt. I paid off two significant monthly debts earlier this year, freeing up capital that has helped the bottom line — especially important in months like October. I also sold a couple of games and might sell a couple more to help pay off credit card payments that are a constant nuisance.
Putting new games out is essential for keeping players interested in coming back, and I’m glad I was able to do that in a few instances. In addition to getting a couple of new games for the cart-based exA-Arcadia system (one was a shoot-’em-up called P-47 Aces Mk. II; the other a 1v1 fighting game called Omen of Sorrow: Arising Chaos). I was able to get a great deal from PrimeTime Amusements on Stern Pinball’s Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye Premium and Elaut USA’s Funky Beatz air hockey table. The latter took way too long to get here, but it’s been performing well, so it’s one of those “better late than never” things. D&D has likewise stood tall as my best-performing pin, though I’m still waiting for some of its avid players to find it at my place.
Even though we just saw a bunch of cool new products at IAAPA, I don’t have plans to grab anything else for a little while. My focus remains on paying off the rest of my debt so I can buy some new games outright in the future. How soon I get there, though, depends on how business goes, and that, to a large degree, depends on my marketing efforts and how well I do at navigating rough economic waters.
It’s been a year with a few things breaking down that weren’t cheap to fix: I had to replace the PC and both guns on my Big Buck: Reloaded (it’s a 2012 cabinet that I’ve kept updated), and a gun on Aliens Armageddon. Both my Enter The Gungeon: House of the Gundead and Terminator 3 pinball have been a headache – they keep having problems after I think I fixed them. My Tekken 5 and one of my four NIRIN machines died (haven’t figured out exactly why yet), and my Blazing Angels also just crapped out. I used to call that one “Ol’ Reliable” because it had performed exceptionally well since I got it in 2008! Alas, no computer works forever.
There are a couple of operational things I’m considering that could be major, but it makes sense to be patient and see if they are worth pursuing.
For anyone out there who is also in a predicament – hang in there! Find things to be positive about even when it’s constant bad news. You might change up some old habits with something new to help you get a fresh perspective on what to do. While life never brings calm waters all the time, it’s not all whitewater rapids either.
See you next year!
Adam Pratt is the owner and operator of Arcade Galactic near Salt Lake City, Utah, and also publishes the Arcade Heroes blog site. He can be reached at [email protected].