Gaming Arcade Business

Gaming Arcade Business Success Stories [2024]

Updated: September 6th, 2024

Imagine modern entertainment wrapped in a nostalgic package—welcome to the world of gaming arcades. A gaming arcade business offers a space filled with classic pinball machines, retro video games, and even modern VR setups.

Easy to conceptualize but demanding to implement, this enterprise requires securing a location, sourcing machines, and strategizing marketing to attract gamers of all ages. The formula, however, is undeniably effective: a bustling hub for fun, competition, and social interaction.

This isn’t merely a business; it’s a cultural revival and social hotspot. A gaming arcade can breathe new life into a community, providing a timeless yet trendy escape. For those with a passion for gaming and community building, it’s not just a business opportunity—it’s a dream grounded in reality.

In this list, you'll find real-world gaming arcade business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a gaming arcade business that makes money.

1. Overgear ($12M/year)

Tony Doronin, along with his partners Dmitriy Beseda and Alex Karetin, founded Overgear, a gaming marketplace that offers gaming assistance and training services. Alex, who had experience in investment projects and a passion for gaming, saw the lack of competition in the gaming services market and the potential for a project that provided a higher level of user experience. They launched Overgear in 2017 and have since expanded their services to different gaming disciplines, generating $1 million in monthly revenue.

How much money it makes: $12M/year
How much did it cost to start: $50K
How many people on the team: 36

SMALLBORDER

How We Launched A $1M/Month Video Games Boosting Services Marketplace

Overgear, a gaming marketplace offering assistance and training in WoW, Path of Exile, Destiny, Call of Duty, and Valorant, saw over $8 million in revenue and a 6x increase in clients in the past year by prioritizing user experience and customer retention through SEO and Google Ads, reinvesting profits, and creating a user-friendly product, amongst other things.

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