COMING FALL, 2025: Basic Fun Inc. takes on Arcade1Up with stand-up TMNT, WWE, Star Wars, Atari, Pac-Man and more!

Thanks to this long-form podcast from IRATE Gamer (Chris Bores), we have news that toy company Basic Fun Inc. has announced at Toy Fair 2025 that they are planning to release a line of classic arcade titles including WWE Wrestlefest, Star Wars, Pac-Man, TMNT, Atari, and more!

Now, this isn't entirely new... after all, we discussed this same possibility 6 months ago in a related post about Basic Fun. But now a Sr. VP from Basic Fun has put it on the record, and here are a few details from the interviews...

Per Dan Westcott, Sr. Vice President, Global Marketing at Basic Fun:

A brand new collection of arcade games. Our motto is to 'reimagine the classics... the iconic brands.' So this is a category that fits that model. We're reproducing all the classic games at counter, freestanding levels... for Pac-Man, Ninja Turtles, WWE, and Atari.
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The graduating scale has to do with size and features. The Ultra Series is a much bigger cabinet... light-up marquee, speaker grilles. The creme-de-la-creme is the Supreme Series. You've got LOTS more games--Atari has over 60 games--you've got light-up marquees, speaker grills, a really cool coin door that gives you the flavor of being in the arcade.
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We're reproducing the classic, nostalgic cabinet art. [Talking about Wrestelfest]... never been done, all the games are done by Arc Systems. We're licensing the rights exlusively from them. [Talking about getting the licensing]... challenging... lotta hoops... lotta dancing. We got it done.
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Supreme and Ultra Series... Star Wars Atari game, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi... two different sizes. [Regarding the yoke compared to Arcade1Up]... I would say it's better. There are differences that are important to call out.
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[Talking about future products]... Yes, yes, yes... we won't tell you what we got, but we have some other licenses that may involve shooting and driving and maybe another concept there. So, there's lots coming from us. We're invested in the space. ["Outrun" is mentioned]... laughs, will neither confirm nor deny. Might be on the docket.
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What you're looking at here is all Fall, 2025. We've got 2026 plans coming and 2027. Notably two games coming in '26.

Several product lines:

  • A countercade line ($180)
  • A baby-cade "Junior Series" line (smaller games, slower games, $250)
  • A slim-cade size line that's "8-inches slimmer than a normal arcade" ($450)
  • An "Ultra Series" line (likely similar to A1U's Deluxe with lit marque and speaker grille covers, $500)
  • A "Supreme Series" line (likely similar to XL cabinets, only available at club stores, $599 said to be an "$800 value")

Retailers:

  • Target
  • Best Buy
  • Lots of retailers
  • Worldwide distribution!

Several licenses:

  • Centipede Atari (including 2600-era console games... Ultra Series gets 50 games, Supreme gets 60 games)
  • Star Wars (possibly based on Return of the Jedi art), will include the yoke (!)
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in Ultra and Supreme tiers, 4-players with lit marquees, Turtles in Time, 1, 2, and 3, including console games and Cowabunga collection, as well as possibly OTHER Konami beat-em-ups)
  • Pac-Man (!?)
  • WWE Wrestlefest

How does this relate to Arcade1Up? Glad you asked! As many folks know, several of the above titles had previously been released as Arcade1Up products (and some on iiRcade), but NOW they appear to have moved to Basic Fun, at least for certain product lines. It's possible Arcade1Up has retained rights to specific sizes/price points and Basic Fun has secured sizes/price points where Arcade1Up doesn't compete.

So now, in addition to Iconic Arcade (which may or may not be having difficulties with Media1Up being served a Cease and Desist), we have Basic Fun officially entering the home arcade arena and apparently competing directly with Arcade1Up at basically all sizes and price points and available wordwide at major retailers!

Now, before you dismiss Basic Fun as just being a cheap toy company, keep in mind that's where Tastemakers (parent company of Arcade1Up) made their money originally, too. So, it's not impossible to think another company could follow the same model and be completely competitive.

Questions?... What do they look like? What size screens? How will they be built? What other titles will there be in 2026 and 2027 (shooting and racing games were hinted!)

Time will tell, but it looks like 2025 is the year Arcade1Up FINALLY has some serious competition.

The real arcade Wrestlefest... hopefully Basic Fun delivers something similar.

These are NOT the products we're talking about (but it's the same company!)