The first major amusement-focused trade show of this year is now just around the corner, as EAG Expo 2025 is about to start up at London’s ExCel venue for three days from tomorrow.
In case there are any new readers viewing this, the EAG Expo serves the Entertainment, Attractions and Gaming industries of the UK and Europe. Way back when this site first started, it was known as ATEI. The closest comparison for it over here is Amusement Expo, although it is worth noting this year sees some changes to it – co-located alongside EAG will now be two new sub-events, the Social Immersive Entertainment Expo (SIEX) and London Casino & Gaming Show. The former will see some amusement crossover, though the latter not so much, being for the gambling/gaming machine side of things.
I do wish I could make it to the show, but alas, it isn’t in the cards for me again. Fortunately, AH co-contributors Kevin Williams and Ted (who helped compile this post) will be there to report on the action, providing photos for a full recap to come. For those who hold any interest in what you can expect to find there, here is a brief preview of what the major attendees will be bringing. With it being so close to IAAPA there is always a lot of overlap between what they have, but some distributors usually show at least a few products that we don’t see out in the States. And one or two surprises not mentioned here can’t be ruled out…
What Will Be At EAG 2025?
Like last year’s, this quick preview will cover Bandai Namco, Electrocoin, Sega Amusements and UDC, the four biggest UK-based arcade companies who attend the show. Two of those names might not be so familiar to all of our American readers, but they have handled a lot of recognizable games – just in Europe.
Bandai Namco Amusement Europe
After their impressive showing at IAAPA in November, Bandai Namco are returning to the trade show stage here. With it being their European distribution subsidiary, they will have various new releases from Raw Thrills and Adrenaline Amusements making their UK debuts, such as Angry Birds Boom! and Duck Derby, as well as Andamiro’s Star Wars pusher and a more complete version of TouchMagix’s Minions Bullseye Mania darts game. For their own video games though, the centerpiece will be, at last, Europe’s first playable glimpse of GoldStorm Pirates, which has only appeared in the US and Japan until now.
Unfortunately we can confirm Taiko No Tatsujin will not be accompanying GoldStorm on this occasion, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be coming to Europe in the future – from what was said at IAAPA, it will be appearing somewhere in the UK later this year… and its kiddie ride is set to be around at EAG already. That one being so prominent at trade shows out West despite not even being sold in the States yet is odd, but perhaps they really want to drive up demand in advance. Some Japanese prize vending will also have representation with Bandai Gashapon (which hasn’t turned up on their booths at IAAPA yet).
Electrocoin
One of the UK’s longest-standing distributors, Electrocoin have a long and storied history of relationships with companies like Konami, Taito, Capcom and SNK in Europe. You can read about that past in the fantastic Arcade Britannia by Alan Meades, but in terms of the future they’re currently forging, only Dance Dance Revolution A20+ has been sold by them for a while now, with much of the rest of their game portfolio being very redemption-heavy. They have been teasing a brand new shooting game for EAG 2025 though – whether that is Konami’s Contra Burst spotted on test recently in the US remains to be seen.
Either way, it will be interesting to see whether or not Konami’s apparent renewed interest in Western arcade markets (something I heard a bit of talk about at IAAPA) will pan out, either through their links with Electrocoin or on the US scene again. It’s been a long time since they sold outside chains here…
This one has just been first at CES 2025, but owing to them being Stern’s European distributor, Electrocoin will also have an early look at their new Dungeons & Dragons, among other existing Stern pinball releases. Titles from Jersey Jack and Chicago Gaming may additionally be around at Pinball Heaven’s booth.
Sega Amusements
Sega Amusements are one of the few companies participating in both EAG and the Social Immersive Entertainment Expo, with their booths being co-located between the two for convenience. Like Bandai Namco they serve as the main European distributor for a few firms, most prominently ICE and LAI Games, so expect to see the newest games (e.g. Neon Bowling and Asphalt Moto Blitz) from them. Meanwhile, their own product line here is spearheaded by another pre-release appearance of Alpha Ops VR Strike, the latest work they have been exclusively overseeing with 3MindWave.
Away from that, besides returning recent pieces like Zombies! Ready, Deady Go! and Apex Rebels, SAI’s booth looks fairly prize redemption-heavy, with prominent showcases for High Five, Win Fall Revolution, and their plush ranges for the likes of Sonic. There will also be UK debuts for On Target from Leon Amusement and Big Sea Fishing from SEA, as previously seen at IAAPA. For their official preview featuring the latter, they did a fun JAWS-inspired graphic that you can check out here…
UDC
UDC have been the UK’s main source for games from a wide variety of companies, but these days they most significantly sell many of Ace Amusement’s works, with certain Ace titles ending up in their hands before they appear in the US. Last year those were Wave Riders X-Treme and Super Drill (landing stateside soon via Amusement Source International), whilst this time the three main examples are Air Combat, Bikers Madness, and Wild West Shootout 2, previously seen at the Chinese trade shows in 2024. Two of those are large motion-based pieces so it’s possible those didn’t make it over yet due to their size.
Alongside those will be StepManiaX once again, hot off its big IAAPA 2024 where the game made an appearance on four distributor booths, and a whole host of redemption, including Tornado by Playmore in its original non-LAI Games retooled flavor. We could also see a bit of vending rivalry as UDC have now picked up a gacha capsule machine, Collectopia, to compete with Bandai Namco’s.
As always, other smaller companies such as Cosmic Leisure, JNC Sales and Harry Levy (who will be selling Skull Of Shadow into Europe) are due to make appearances, but do not announce as much of their line-up in advance, so be sure to check out our coverage for any surprises in store.
It is also worth noting that one exhibitor pulled out of the show last week, meaning attendees will be missing out on any of the new UNIS products (Monster Kart, Neon Rush etc) that are intended to ship there. Of course, that company is still selling equipment; it just won’t be at this show.
Until the full recap later this week, which companies’ previews for EAG Expo 2025 interest you most?
