Bandai Namco Opening Five-Floor Arcade At Sega's Old Akihabara Location

It was a sad day when Sega announced the closure of all its Akihabara arcades in Tokyo. The arcades were either sold to Genda to be rebranded as GiGO arcades or they were closed down for good to be sold as retail space. A tragic end to an institution.

But it seems at least one other Japanese gaming brand will take up the mantle Sega was forced to put down during the pandemic. Bandai Namco has announced it will re-open Sega Akihabara Arcade building no. 4 under its own branding, revamping the arcade with new Games, new prize machines, and more.

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Sega initially sold Akihabara Arcade 4 to Genda, but it was closed down in September 2022. Bandai Namco then purchased it with plans to re-open by March 2023. According to Tech Raptor, this will be the first Bandai Namco-branded arcade in Akihabara in the company's 68 years of operating arcades.

The renovated facility will naturally feature a bunch of new Games, including 46 Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. 2 XBoost machines on the first underground floor. The first floor will have claw machines (also known as UFO catchers) as well as the Ichiban Kuji Official Shop Akihabara, which is a sort of lottery where customers purchase tickets and get instant prizes--usually action figures or toys related to anime or Games. The first floor will also host the Banplayer Akiba Figure Collection showroom.

On the second floor, expect more claw machines, while the third floor will house arcade boxes for popular Games like Taiko no Tatsujin. The fourth floor will be home to the Gashapon Bandai Official Shop Akihabara, which will have a whopping 800 Gashapon machines.

Finally, the fifth floor will be called DeckSta, or Deck Stadium, and will host tournaments and events for various trading card Games. Expect Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, and more to host tournaments, release events, and more. Expect this floor to also host other Game-related events as well.

This is a hopeful sign that the arcade Business is picking back up in Japan. And if it's not, Bandai Namco is definitely flush with cash after selling 20 million Elden Rings, so it can afford to lose some money at the arcade for a while.

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