The entertainment industry is constantly evolving and is not immune to changes based on both commercial trends and consumer preferences, an example of which is the proliferation of machine entertaining A few decades ago and its apparent decline in recent times around the world
According to the most recent financial analysis of the corporate Teikoku DatabankIn Japan, eight thousand arcades have closed over the past ten years, with the drop most pronounced and close 30%Due to the fallout from the COVID 19 pandemic.
An example of the above was when at the beginning of 2022, sega After participating in it for half a century, the market decided to abandon the sector, suffering a similar fate Namco Funscape London in the UK
Regarding the situation in the Land of the Rising Sun, not only the change in public preferences, which are now more inclined towards crane devices and/or rewards, is triggered, but other specific factors are present, e.g. Electricity rates And of tax Costs, in addition to commissions due to currency exchange cash.
Because of this, the operating profit of the companies owned by the companies Arch – class has declined dramatically, from a margin of 26 percent in the late 1980s Currently 6%Shows that the business survives because of nostalgia, but not because of profitability.
In the same sense, alarming figures that, at the height of the arcade 26,573 Against the institution that had such entertainment 4,022 So far in 2024, the current, slowdown is expected to worsen rapidly.
It would be too risky to say that arcade room Their complete disappearance, however, is a fact that they have aged with time Gamer In the past, this kind of recreational space opens up the possibility of being positioned as a very specific niche segment, as has happened physical arrangement In home video games.
