Arcade1Up Is Reportedly Shutting Down: The End of an Era for Home Arcade Cabinets

Arcade1Up is reportedly shutting down operations as of December 12, 2025. The company that pioneered affordable 3/4-scale arcade cabinets for home use appears to have finally succumbed to the pressures that have been building for years. For those of us who own their products, this is genuinely sad news.

A Strong Start, Then a Steady Decline

When Arcade1Up launched in 2018, the quality was impressive. Their first wave of cabinets featuring Pac-Man, Galaga, and Space Invaders offered solid construction, decent screens, and authentic gameplay at prices that undercut traditional arcade cabinets by thousands of dollars, with a lot less maintenance. The Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat cabinets that followed maintained that standard.

Later releases seemed to have cost-cutting measures that were hard to ignore. Seemingly thinner wood, cheaper joysticks, and screens that didn't quite match the originals. The company also struggled with quality control issues on more complex releases. Still, they continued pushing boundaries with ambitious projects like sit-down cabinets and licensed pinball machines.

The Cabinets That Defined Arcade1Up

Over seven years, Arcade1Up released an enormous catalog. The highlights included:

• Classic Arcade: Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Centipede, Asteroids, Space Invaders, Frogger
• Fighting Games: Street Fighter II (multiple versions), Mortal Kombat (I, II, III, and compilations), Killer Instinct, Marvel vs. Capcom
• Beat-em-ups: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, X-Men, Golden Axe
• Sports: NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, Big Buck Hunter, Golden Tee
• Sit-down Cockpits: Star Wars, Outrun, Ridge Racer
• Unique Controls: Tron (with the distinctive flight stick), Sinistar, Tempest
• Pinball: Attack from Mars, Star Wars Pinball, Marvel Pinball, Gottlieb titles

I own three Arcade1Up cabinets: the Star Wars sit-down, the Outrun sit-down, and Tron. All three are fantastic. I bought these when I knew I was moving and would no longer have room for my full upright cabinets. They are still boxed, along with upgraded Star Wars yolk control and Tron joystick. That moddability was part of the Arcade1Up appeal. The pinball machines especially attracted a modding community, with people adding better screens, improved audio, and force feedback.

The Games They Never Made

I always hoped Arcade1Up would release 720. The skateboarding game from Atari is notoriously difficult to emulate properly because of its unique rotating joystick. A dedicated cabinet with proper controls could have solved that problem. The same goes for Paperboy with its handlebar controller, and After Burner with its flight stick. How funny would it have been if 1up created a moving emersive After Burner sit-down cab?! These non-joystick games represent some of the most memorable arcade experiences, and they remain difficult to recreate at home.

Arcade1Up did attempt some unique control schemes with Tron/Sinistar, Star Wars, Big Buck Hunter and Outrun. Those cabinets showed they understood the value of authentic controls. Perhaps if they had leaned further into that niche, focusing on games that cannot be easily emulated with standard controllers, the outcome might have been different.

What About the Competition?

Arcade1Up's closure does not happen in a vacuum. AtGames, maker of the Legends Ultimate and Legends Pinball lines, has been struggling with similar challenges. Their products occupy the same price bracket and face the same economic headwinds. iiRcade attempted to differentiate with an online game store model, but their premium pricing limited their audience. Neither company appears positioned to simply absorb Arcade1Up's market share.

The entire home arcade cabinet market may be contracting. These products are large, expensive, and appeal to a niche audience. When disposable income tightens, they are among the first purchases to get delayed or cancelled.

After purchasing an Arcade cab, I think many people find they'd rather be sitting down, playing games from their couch. No need to strand, shoulder to shoulder, in front of a 3/4 size cabinet.

The DIY Alternative

For those willing to build their own cabinets, the options have never been better. A Raspberry Pi running RetroPie or Batocera have jamma and other options. For those who demand cycle-accurate emulation, the MiSTer FPGA platform offers a hardware-based solution that recreates original arcade chips rather than emulating them in software.

DIY cabinets require more effort, but they offer flexibility that commercial products cannot match. You can choose your own screen size, control layout, and game library. For common games with standard joystick controls, this approach often produces better results than commercial alternatives.

However, DIY solutions struggle with the same games that challenged Arcade1Up: anything with non-standard controls. Building a proper rotating joystick for 720 or a working handlebar for Paperboy requires fabrication skills beyond most hobbyists. This is where dedicated commercial products held genuine value.

What Happens to Existing Owners?

For those of us who already own Arcade1Up products, the immediate concern is parts and support. Joysticks wear out, buttons fail, and screens can develop issues. With no company to provide replacement parts, the modding community becomes essential. Fortunately, most Arcade1Up components use standard arcade parts that can be sourced from third-party suppliers.

The pinball machines present a different challenge. Their digital displays and proprietary software are harder to replace or repair. Owners should probably start familiarizing themselves with the modding communities now, before institutional knowledge begins to fade.

The Legacy

Arcade1Up brought arcade gaming into homes that never had space or budget for original cabinets. They introduced a generation to games their parents played in arcades. That matters, even if the execution was sometimes imperfect.

I hope another company pops up to pick up where 1up left off. These cabinets are pieces of art. They provoke memories of a simpler time.

For now, we pour one out for a company that gave arcade gaming a second life in living rooms across the world.