Welcome to Location Watch, a series of posts here at Arcade Heroes that shares new arcades which have opened their doors all around the world. January is usually a pretty quiet month for new openings in most parts of the world, but we have found numerous places that have started trading in the first weeks of the year, and any shortage is made up for by a few we missed from the tail end of 2025. Thanks to our readers and sources for sending many of these in, as well as InterGame and RePlay Magazine for rolling updates.
Also in case you missed it, the comments section is working again, so feel free to leave a (nice) comment below on our posts 🙂 Any tips on locations not featured are appreciated.
Special Shoutout
Every so often we give a special shoutout to a location we either know well or have been specifically contacted about and given original media of, and today we have one that falls into the latter. Normally we wouldn’t give too much coverage to a kid-focused arcade like Toy Box, however this one in Brockton, MA, recently opened with a whole heap of cranes and redemption but also Raw Thrills and UNIS (owing to it being their brand) games. Thanks to Mike at Sunstar Vending for giving us this footage:
North America
The Church Arcade (Duquesne, PA)
With that shoutout out of the way, first up it has to be mentioned that one location has been seeing a lot of interest of late due to its unusual venue causing both positive and negative feedback, depending on how religious you are. The Church Arcade is what its name plainly suggests, a church retrofitted into being a retro arcade. They have quite a few video titles around, along with some pinball (and perhaps a place to confess if you’ve operated an Arcade1Up commercially, or converted a game to an LCD…).
Pinheads Bowling (Helper, UT)
This one recently opened in my relative neck of the woods, although it would be a journey of about two hours to get there. In my years of operating an arcade, I’ve often had people from Price ask if I would consider opening there, but it just didn’t make sense given the distances. Anyways, this location has opened their doors and they even have been running TV commercials – which is how I learned about them. Their arcade section doesn’t appear to have much aside from redemption, but they do have billiards:
Retro Rewind 209 (Los Banos, CA)
Here is one of those we missed out on from the end of 2025, sent into us by reader Pacsonic. Retro Rewind have interestingly gone for a hybrid approach in their model, with lots of retro games as their name would suggest, but also a dedicated area for some neon cranes, as can be seen on their Facebook page. They also have a selection of old and new pinball machines, which you can see better on their Instagram account (@retrorewind209), which includes King Kong, Star Wars, Stranger Things and more.
Sparks Passport (Troy, MI)
You may recall a previous Location Watch giving coverage to Rhythm Lounge, a rhythm game-focused space that was one of two new appends to the Sparks Pinball Museum in Troy, MI’s Oakland Mall (the other being Varcade PvP Arena, which we also covered). Things didn’t work out there and both quietly closed a few months afterward, but all is not lost, as several cabinets from those places have ended up here at this new add-on, now mixing rhythm games and a few other titles with the two main Sonic arcade rarities of the 90s, Sonic the Fighters and SegaSonic the Hedgehog. As an aside, the big GiGO in Akihabara with the dedicated retro floor also recently got the latter of those, so anyone who wants to play the first proper arcade release the blue blur received has got more chances to do that than ever.
Spinners Pinball Arcade (Frederick, MD)
Here we have a reopening of a place that had closed, as Spinners originally opened in Frederick, MA in 2018. They’re back now at a different spot in the same city, operating on an “all you can play for $20” model. This new one is rather expansive and nowhere near full, so if they do well, they’ll be able to fill it out with much more equipment. Currently they have a ton of pinball as seen below (from an old Atari Hercules to the newer Monster Bash remake), several Skeeball lanes, and of course video games (e.g. Rush 2049 and Pac-Man Battle Royale). They also have a few rhythm games, including an older Pump It Up.
Bonus Round (Redding, CA)
This new bar arcade out in Redding, California is open to all ages until 8pm, where it then only allows adults over 21 to enter. At visitors’ disposal in the neon-adorned, fully carpeted game room is a variety of classic-to-new video games, as well as several pinball machines, although they do appear to lean more towards the classic side of things than more recent fare. Find them online over at Facebook.
Woodgrove Arcade (Nanaimo, Canada)
This Canadian spot just opened up on Jan. 10th after a soft opening event in Nov. 2025, with 6,000 sq. ft. of games. Aside from several Chinese redemption/merchandisers I’ve never seen before, they do have the likes of Asphalt 9 Legends Arcade DX, 2x Batman, Halo: Fireteam Raven, NFS Heat Takedown, Operation GHOST, and StepManiaX, among others. There are also a couple of Chinese videmption games I’ve not seen in trade show coverage, such as a bicycle game called Super Ride GG Bond.
FEC Openings & Updates
The Pac-Man Pop-Up Arcade At Macy’s Herald Square Has Been Extended Through Summer
Dave & Busters Open Santa Rosa, CA Location
Round1USA Opens At Willowbrook Mall, Houston, TX
A New EmojiPlanet Location Launches In Tsawwassen, BC
The Existing Round1USA In Murray, UT Is Getting Attention In Japan – Apparently Utahns embrace Japanese culture better than some other places
Chuck E. Cheese Gave Out Coupons For Free Games, Pizza To Strandeds In The Recent US Storms
Betson Builds A New Game Room At The Treasure Lanes Bowling Center In Charlotte, FL
GAMETOWN Now Open In Plaza las Flores, Palenque Chiapas, Mexico – The game room was set up by Arcade Heroes friends Planet Arcades.
Elev8 Fun Jensen Beach Opening In A Couple Of Weeks – Will Launch With Pickleball Parks
Do You Operate An LBE Venue (Arcade, FEC, Etc)? Then InterGame Wants To Hear From You
New Article On The Closure Of Chuck’s Arcade In Kansas City, MO
Family Entertainment Group Names New COO
Europe
Star Pins #2 (Liverpool, England)
Back at the end of 2024, the UK bowling alley operators Professionals At Play launched a family-oriented sister brand to their King Pins line of centers, Star Pins, with a location model that places a bigger focus on new arcade games alongside their bowling lanes and social entertainment attractions (if you check back, we covered their first opening in the city of Coventry). It’s taken a little while for this second location to open, but it is here now in Liverpool; weirdly enough, there are still barely any photos of the interior and arcade out there despite it being up and running for a couple weeks now, but this advert does show a glimpse of an Asphalt Moto Blitz DX cabinet. The rest of their lineup should have lots supplied from Sega Amusements.
Gameland (Charleroi, Belgium)
Another business on their second opening is this Belgian one; our friends at Arcade Belgium did flag up their first place in Leuven, but it appears we didn’t catch wind of them then, so this should make up for it. Their new location in Charleroi has 30 games, many of which redemption, but there is also a Mario Kart and Aliens Armageddon in there, as well as some lesser-seen Chinese videmption titles.
Gdańsk Arcade Museum (Gdańsk, Poland)
We rarely ever hear of new arcade openings in Poland, but this recently launched museum from the owners of a couple existing examples in Krakow and Warsaw is a very nice example that any arcade fan over there should be pleased about. Gdańsk Arcade Museum have a great variety of games across most eras of arcade history, from 80s video game and pinball classics to the big environmental shooters of the present century like Deadstorm Pirates, Transformers and Luigi’s Mansion, as well as an extremely rare enclosed edition of Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (believed to have been only built in very small numbers for Disney parks), DariusBurst, a few rhythm games, and the main original trio of Mortal Kombat releases together under a banner. If you find yourself over there, be sure to give them a visit!
FEC Openings & Updates
Levels Social Entertainment/VR Facility Opening In Whitehaven, Cumbria – Weird mix of immersive virtuality and social entertainment at this one, alongside some ‘edutainment’ mixed in there with occasional educational sessions too
Mr B’s In Rhyl, Wales Bought Out By New Owners, Receiving £1 Million Revamp – They seemingly had one of the last deluxe eight player Daytona USA setups out there. A good chance to get the new Motion Edition perhaps?
“Largest FEC In Europe”, Spain’s Mega Ozone Bowling Gets Intercard
First Of Eleven Game Box Locations Gets Converted Into A Gamestate
Asia/Middle East/Oceania
Gamebox (Liguan, Guam)
It’s also uncommon to see new openings over in Guam, though they have had some in the past (including a massive, albeit shortlived GameWorks). InterGame reports that Gamebox has opened at Micronesia Mall, the largest shopping mall in the country, with 40 games and attractions to be found within. As can be seen below, this place is going all in on Ace Amusement works, most of which lined up on the left here, with a couple Raw Thrills titles (Halo and Minecraft Dungeons) up front too:
City Hero (Guangzhou, China)
Next is another one that should’ve been featured in the last Location Watch of 2025, but slipped through the net. Site advertisers Wahlap not only make games but also run numerous locations in China, and for their latest and greatest of these they have opened a huge new location under the name of City Hero in Guangzhou. This was used as the debut location for their release of the new Jubeat cabinets, which they have been promoting constantly of late (though with the distinction that they are only available for China).
Arcade Hero (Yangon, Myanmar)
Finally, we have what was most likely the first ever arcade location to launch this year (its doors were in fact thrown open on New Year’s Day), and one with a name that should leave any reader of the site with slight deja vu 😉 Though they have nothing to do with us (I guess we’re flattered?), Arcade Hero have a pretty typical mix of games for Southeast Asia, with lots of standard ticket redemption options but also the likes of Aliens Armageddon, Maimai DX and DanceRush Stardom, as can be seen below.
FEC Openings & Updates
New Kidtainment Location 360 Play Comes To Bahrain
Crane/Toy/Photo Booth Store Opens In Shanghai, China
Loco Lane Competitive Socializing Venue For Bengaluru, India
Latest Kingpin Bowling Alley Launched In Melbourne, Australia
Are any of these new arcades near you? Then be sure to go out and visit them! Doors can’t stay open on the basis of likes and hashtags.
Coming Soon
New “ThrillHouse” FEC For Marion, IL – Who remembers this classic Simpsons gag when seeing it…
24,500 sq.ft FEC For Maricopa, Arizona
Schaumburg, IL Getting A New Andretti’s
Round1USA Is Coming To Lakewood, CO
Austin’s FEC Planning ‘Thrillz’ Expansion
New F1 Arcade For Atlanta Next Month
Second Scottish King Pins In Edinburgh
Discover more from Arcade Heroes
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