The arcade industry is coming together for another trade show event, and this time it is Amusement Expo 2025. Held every year in March as Spring starts, Amusement Expo International (AEI) usually happens in Las Vegas, with this year being no exception. The educational/seminar side of the show starts today (March 17th), while the trade show portion with various manufacturers showing off their latest products is on the 19th & 20th. I will be there to document and play these new games, but to help those who are also going – or if you’re not able to be there and are interested in seeing what’s up – here’s the preview.
This is focused on what we know, thanks to prior announcements and information passed along to us with permission to publicize it. That said, there’s always the possibility of some surprises that we’ll only know about once the show has started. If you’d like to digest all of this in video form instead, there will also be a full rundown streamed and available on our YouTube channel tomorrow morning.
As a quick note before it all, exA-Arcadia had originally planned on being there, but due to a major conflict with the show’s contractor, they are not attending. I will however be working with them to demonstrate at least some of their upcoming new games through another means.
Amusement Expo 2025 – AH Advertisers
As always, we’ll start with our sponsors and what they will have at Amusement Expo 2025. Our sincere thanks to their support of the site, which helps “keep the lights on”. We’re also looking into some things that will cost money to get the site to operate better, but stay tuned on that front.
Raw Thrills
The US debut of Angry Birds Boom! and some updates to existing games aside, last IAAPA was a relatively quiet one for Raw Thrills compared to previous years. For AEI though, they are coming out in full force on much of Betson’s booths (#227, 134, 1712, and 226) with the industry launch for Top Gun Maverick, the first aircraft arcade game that they and Play Mechanix have made. Alongside it will also be their new Wizard of Oz videmption game and the new Series 4 version for Minecraft Dungeons Arcade.
Here’s Top Gun’s trailer if you haven’t seen it already:
TouchMagix
India’s TouchMagix are on hand at booth #350. It looks like they’ll fill up their 20×20 space with a similar mix to their IAAPA 2024 booth, which was headlined by the new Minions Bullseye Mania, and supported by their many hit games. This show will include a new twin cabinet marquee for Minions, and an enhanced version of Pop It!. There was also a new redemption game at the back of their IAAPA booth called Treasure Chest, but it wasn’t mentioned in the release that TouchMagix sent us, or in this promotional image they posted:
As that preview doesn’t include Minions either, here’s a video of it from IAAPA:
Also, although they will not have their own booth (they tend to only for IAAPA outside of Asia), Wahlap’s current releases including Kaiju Rampage and the Asphalt range will be represented by LAI Games.
Amusement Expo 2025 – Arcade Exhibitors
Now onto all the other Amusement Expo 2025 exhibitors that deal in our main focuses at AH, namely arcade video games and pinball. Redemption sometimes pops in there, but it will vary. A further amount who do more for the VR/MXR/AR side of things can be found at the end of the post.
There are a few notable no-shows this year (American Pinball, PLAYMIND, and as previously mentioned exA-Arcadia), but it’s good to see that in their place are several newcomers, AEI first-timers, and returning companies who weren’t there at 2024’s for one reason or another.
I would also note that just from the information we’ve uncovered or been given, this is looking to be the busiest AEI for quite some time with the most new game releases from across several manufacturers that I can recall seeing. Generally, you get one or two new pieces that hadn’t been seen at IAAPA, but here there are several major launches to speak of by multiple companies.
Adrenaline Amusements
Being an alphabetical run-through as usual, Adrenaline are up first here at booth #848. Usually they unveil something new about a week before the show if they do have something in store, but there’s been no news out of them since IAAPA when they only debuted Duck Derby. Unless they are simply wanting to do a total surprise I’m guessing that they aren’t set to reveal anything new, as there is no mention of it or them in the latest issue of RePlay Magazine during their AEI show coverage either.
Alan-1
Alan-1 have been at the past couple of AEIs, but their area at booth #1901 is set to be their biggest ever so far. They are bringing several games to show off, with Soda Slam! serving as the flagship debut piece, then that will be bolstered by the first appearance of the 2-Player upright (aka, Pro model) of Missile Command Recharged. Both of their released games, Asteroids Recharged Arcade and Avian Knights, will be there too, and to top it all off they are bringing three classics that will sit back-to-back on the newer counterparts – an Asteroids (1979, Atari), a Joust (1982, Williams), and a Missile Command (1980, Atari).
Also, they have just secured the Dr. Pepper brand license for their Soda Slam game. The model at the at show will be a regular edition, with details on the Dr. Pepper version coming later. It will be available alongside the standard, which is scheduled to begin shipping this Summer.
Amusement Source International
Amusement Source International have their space at booth #949. ASI will show off several new prize redemption games here, including Air Ball, Balloon Carnival, and Super Vac, while also bringing back some of the pieces that were at IAAPA. According to RePlay, they will also debut a new videmption shooter called Rooster N Bro, and have Ace Amusement’s Super Drill that I found fun at IAAPA.
Andamiro USA
Andamiro USA can be found at booth #437. They will have a similar setup to IAAPA, although I think they might be showcasing the lesser-seen black LX cabinet for the latest Pump It Up this time. They will also show off a new redemption game called Prize Pearls. Besides those, I’ll have to make sure to stop by and get footage of the new level on the SpongeBob VR Coaster that I had missed at IAAPA.
Bandai Namco Amusement America
Bandai Namco’s American arm are in prime spots right at the front of the show floor, on booths #110 and 126. They tend to hold their cards close to their chests when it comes to trade shows, but expect most of what was at IAAPA, including the soon-to-release GoldStorm Pirates, and Taiko No Tatsujin. It should be noted that the Round1USA rollout of the latter has unfortunately been paused due to an apparent issue with the build quality of the drums on our cabinets, but the Japanese side of the company is actively looking into what happened there and its full US release should still be happening sometime during Q2 of this year (they’re just preoccupied with another production run of Mario Karts by the sounds of things).
If they have any surprise, it will most probably be Bike Dash Delivery with that being spotted on test out in the States again recently, or just an unknown redemption piece. It would be cool to see Penda Beats or Magi Blast turn up but those are very unlikely, considering they’ve only just started testing in Japan.
Bay Tek Entertainment
Bay Tek can be found at booth #727. They have only promoted that they’ll have ICEE Slush Rush there, but I do imagine that they’ll have the rest of their current production line-up on hand to fill out the rest of the booth space. If they have something new-new, then they are keeping it well under wraps.
Birmingham Vending Company / Attractions & More
Here’s an interesting one – in their time distributing product, Birmingham Vending Company haven’t ever exhibited at AEI… until now. They are at booth #2135, thanks to the emergence of their new partner Attractions & More, who we covered the other day. In case you missed that they will be bringing numerous titles by the Chinese company iPlay, with a focus on videmption. The main showcase will be Esport Boxer.
Blue Motion Games
Another AEI newcomer, Blue Motion Games will be making their show debut at booth #1949. They did attend IAAPA 2024 alongside Amega, but this expo marks the first time they will showcase their initial two products for the arcade market, the four player Desert Chase and Cannonball Jam.
Coastal Amusements
Coastal is going to debut at least two new games at booth #527, a new redemption/air hockey puck sliding game called Hot Wheels Ultimate Speedway, and Ace Amusement’s Wild West Shootout 2. That will be making its first US appearance here after being shown in China and Europe first. With a 20×60 sized booth, they should also have plenty of other redemption games on hand that were at IAAPA.
ELAUT Group
ELAUT take their spot at booth #337. Their group line-up includes Benchmark Games & Coast-to-Coast Entertainment as usual, and from the information published in RePlay from all three companies, they will be promoting a fairly similar line-up to their IAAPA one, which includes the two Popeye pieces, Superman Worlds United, and the Smurfs themed redemption games, among others.
ICE
Aside from some social media promotions on Neon Bowling, I haven’t yet heard what ICE is bringing to booth #1136. It’s a 30×60 space, and while the bowling takes up a bit of that, it won’t be all of it. I imagine that they will likely have a similar mix to what was at IAAPA, with titles like Stop The Drop ready to go.
Incredible Technologies
The creators of Golden Tee have similarly been quiet as to their AEI plans (most of the promotions posted by them of late have been more focused on their 40th anniversary celebrations), so we can guess they’ll have a few Golden Tee PGA Tour 2025 units and the Arcade Collection. Maybe we’ll get lucky with a Golden Tee PGA Tour 2026 preview, since that will likely launch in September. They’ll be at booth #627.
IPGM Distribution
IGPM have been promoting themselves a lot of late, but until today that didn’t include any AEI mention. This preview serves to rectify that; stop by booth #1817 to check these boxers out. They were at IAAPA with these games too, but I didn’t have the time to focus on them at the time.
JET Games
From the information available, JET’s presence on booth #837 will have a similar setup to their IAAPA 2024 showing, although there were two new videmption games at that show (a trampoline game and a clown whacker game) which are still not listed on their website, nor mentioned in the RePlay preview for AEI. Not sure at the moment if that means they’ve been delayed or simply cancelled.
Komuse USA
This Korean redemption producer most famous for making the likes of Key Master and Power Roll (both prominently distributed by Sega Amusements) will show off a new title, Ferris Fantasy, and I assume a few of their other in-production pieces that were at IAAPA. Find them on booth #105.
LAI Games
LAI Games can be found at booth #549. Hot on the heels of Kaiju Rampage shipping, LAI are launching their next big licensed piece Cyberpunk 2077: Turf Wars at the show, which is sure to be one of the standout pieces. The sheer size of this will mean that, like at the last IAAPA, their booth is set to be a large one; it will also include a new redemption game called NASCAR Pit Stop, and the various coin pusher and redemption pieces that already debuted at IAAPA (although RePlay’s preview fails to mention the Arcade Matt one). We can additionally expect them to have some focus on their distribution deal with the toy and crane game manufacturer Seasons again, whose Wonder Claws will take up some space.
Here’s Cyberpunk’s trailer in case you missed it:
Pop-A-Shot
Pop-A-Shot’s comeback to the industry can be seen at booth #2149. As previously covered they will be debuting the revival of their flagship basketball game as Pop-A-Shot Elite, with its new current twists.
Retro Arcade Remake
Retro Arcade Remake are making their return to the AEI stage after a year out at booth #1635. I have reached out to them for an update but have not heard back; I’m hoping we’ll see not just the Zeke’s Peak Remake that they’ve been touting for a while, but also the Food Fight Frenzy game that was showcased last year at both Midwest Gaming Classic and IAAPA Expo Europe in Amsterdam.
Sega Amusements International
Sega Amusements will be around with an even better booth than last year’s at #211. Their main AEI game debut will be the first one we heard about, way back at the start of February: the official US industry launch of Japan’s highly anticipated Maimai DX. As well as that, they are confirmed to be bringing their latest two works with 3MindWave, the upcoming Alpha Ops VR Strike and last year’s Apex Rebels again, alongside a host of returning redemption and videmption products that have generally hit the market already (Big Sea Fishing, On Target, High Five, the Allstars Sports and Skill Fall Revolution ranges etc).
Like Bandai Namco, if there is a surprise still in store from them it will most likely be another redemption or videmption game (perhaps Balloon Circus, which was seen on test in the UK last year?). They are also selling a new House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn model but that hasn’t been mentioned in any AEI preview.
Smart Industries
Smart took out a two page ad in RePlay to showcase their space at booth #815, which will highlight their big JJ Bot – The Avatar crane, along with the four player Winner’s Nest and two new pieces: Prize Bay (a “themed modular crane kiosk” that can go from four to “unlimited” linked games), and this HY Technology piece originally known as Block Party, which we first aw in the AAA coverage from China last year. They are bringing it over as Knock’Em Blocks; though the theme does bring Legos to mind, with its head-to-head prize whacker gameplay that can vend the toys themselves, it doesn’t carry said license.
Stern Pinball
With no appearances from Jersey Jack (who don’t tend to appear at AEI anyway) and American Pinball, Stern are the show’s only major pinball rep at booth #827. They have sent out a release announcing that the recently released Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Tyrant will be their main showcase, along with several other in-production games, such as Metallica Remastered, The Uncanny X-MEN, John Wick, and Venom. Of course, Stern aren’t ones to use industry trade shows like AEI to announce new product, unless they have something up their sleeves that’s made to benefit operators specifically.
Team Play
Team Play missed out on last year’s AEI due to the unfortunate incident where a freight truck with their equipment crashed on the highway. Let’s not assume that such an event like that will happen again, so they will be set up at booth #141 to promote their new redemption piece with TKM, Candy Forge. This was at IAAPA under a different theme and name (which Brian of TP had stated was a strong possibility), and was also given the cover page of the March 2025 edition of RePlay Magazine. That cover feature mentioned other unnamed new pieces too, so it’s possible they have a surprise or two in store.
Triotech
Triotech typically use AEI to promote their more location-friendly titles like Typhoon, Storm VR or Super Blaster, and this year is no exception as their preview only mentions the latter two titles (as well as a preview for a new XD Dark Ride film). Perhaps we’ll see their recently tested Skyrider Interactive VR/VR Drone Invasion game as a surprise though. Find them at booth #304.
UNIS
UNIS look to repeat their IAAPA setup where they had two booths, one dedicated to their Emoji produce and the other for the rest, at #305 and #1749. The lineup seems to be very similar from this initial promo preview they posted too, although there are a couple of minor new things – the Emoji mini basketball game seen below, and a deluxe model for Monster Kart spotted in this second promo. It was previously thought that the one seen already (including here) was that, but it turns out it was the other way around.
Zooom Studios
Zooom Studios bought up Barron Games last year, and so you will find both at booth #1927. Though they haven’t promoted anything for the show, this should offer a chance to get some more footage of whatever it may be, as most of the clips of what they had at IAAPA 2024 for the AH YT channel ended up corrupted.
Amusement Expo 2025 – Virtual/Mixed/Augmented Reality
This section is for developers who are primarily focused on those VR/MXR/AR products that are found on the market. There will be a VR Arcade & Attraction Summit held during Monday that’s strongly focused on educating towards VR, although from what you’ll see here below, there aren’t as many companies focusing on it this time around like there used to be. AEI 2025 appears to have the fewest number of VR-centric companies exhibiting at the show in recent memory. No Hologate, Spree Interactive or VRsenal, and while VRcave is mentioned as supporting the Summit, they aren’t exhibiting. Last year there were twelve companies on our preview, now that’s been halved to six – and only two here are mainly focused on VR.
This isn’t to say that arcade VR is dead, as there are several companies that have simply decided not to exhibit at AEI after already making IAAPA appearances. There are also upcoming major releases such as Alpha Ops VR Strike, and of course games like Godzilla Kaiju Wars tha still dominate in earnings. But head-mounted displays certainly aren’t replacing flatscreens, as had been the established goal post for a long time – and things aren’t looking quite so rosy in consumer VR either, at the present moment. It’s to the extent that I’ve seen Kevin Williams pointing out how lot of companies are starting to distance themselves from the term, and are trying to rebrand or pivot due to some negative perceptions that have taken hold.
As a brighter note, a Robocop VR game has just been quietly announced for arcades; the only issue is, it remains unknown who it’s being made for. Although one or two signs do point towards it being OVRDRV Games, they won’t be at AEI either, so we’ll just have to wait and see on that piece.
Creative Works
Booth #1035. Their most recent email doesn’t mention AEI at all, but instead another educational seminar event coming up in May, and there’s no mention of them that I can find in RePlay’s AEI preview. Creative Works have pushed some major VR projects, while keeping a diverse portfolio of products that range from mini-golf to escape rooms, to theming and more. As it is, I’m not sure what they will be exhibiting at the show, whether it has anything to do with any of these XR-reality categories.
Enklu / Verse Immersive
Booth #2350. This company is new to my knowledge, at least when it comes to amusement, and they are bringing an adaptable AR system to the show. It’s been a little while since we last saw an AR-focused arena, but they do make a pointed remark on their site to say “This is NOT VR”, again trying to make sure that they aren’t being lassoed in with the connotations of the tech.
INOWIZE
Booth #1639. This is one company that has pivoted away from VR towards their Immersive Game Room, QBIX. I haven’t noticed any news on a new game for the platform, although I missed getting a full view of their mummy-themed multiplayer puzzle game at IAAPA. I’ll have to correct that this time around.
Kynoa SE
Booth #1603. Kynoa is one that is ready to reveal a new product, although it’s really more an “evolution” of their older VR table soccer game than something new-new. Now dubbed as the Koliseum NOVa, this will also be joined by a non-VR game, Whack-A-Light (recall the old Catch The Light).
Rilix VR
Booth #451. Rilix continues to forge ahead, although I don’t know if they have plans to unveil any new hardware or software at the show. Note that their SpongeBob Bubble Coaster VR is sold by Andamiro.
Valo Motion
Booth #1037. Valo Motion is one that focuses on MXR products instead of VR too, with their award winning Valo Arena likely making an appearance at the show, and/or their climbing wall.
That completes our preview of Amusement Expo 2025. There are a lot more companies attending than the ones mentioned above, but these are the examples most adjacent to our areas of interest that are known.
As a final note, there are a several distributors who have booths at the show, such as AVS Companies and MOSS Distributing; I talked with AVS and they won’t be displaying the new-new stuff that they had at IAAPA, but they will offer a way to see products from “Apple Industries, Kalkomat and Arachnid” that you might want to check out if you don’t want to deal with crowds at manufacturer booths. I’m not sure what other distributors will have on hand.
Stay tuned to our social media channels for the quickest updates, and to the site for some greater details once I have time to post them; in the meantime, what of this preview interests you most?
