So, finally - after a long time beavering away behind the scenes - we are ready to introduce Antstream Arcade to the world. Antstream Arcade is the world's first streaming platform for retro games, with thousands of games available across multiple devices, with just one account.
Antstream Arcade was born when CEO Steve Cottam made two realisations. The first was that video games - the premier entertainment medium of the 21st century - were probably much even better suited to streaming delivery channels than movies or music.
The second was that classic video games are still hugely loved and widely played, but sadly often difficult to get hold of legally and easily.
This began a journey which took us to almost every continent on Earth, from the towers of Tokyo, to the llama farms of Wales (seriously, if we'd found any classic games developers based in Antartica, we would have gone there) to licence some of the greatest games of all time. We’ve already got exclusive licenses to stream thousands of games directly to your devices, with more being added every day.
That journey is still ongoing - this week, Steve is once again jetting off to secure even more classic games.
But that’s only part of the story. Once we’ve got the games, we give them the Antstream treatment. This means bringing them bang up-to-date with features and functionality that modern gamers expect. Want online leaderboards so you can compare your scores with your friends and other players from around the world? We’ve got them.
You want multiplayer challenges in which you compete to tackle old favourites in new ways? (Think time attacks, boss rushes and speedruns) - We’ve got them.
You want brand new achievements which push you to play these classic hits in new ways, opening up new gameplay strategies and tactics? We’ve got them.
Antstream Arcade aims to bring some of the best games from the 80s, 90s and 00s kicking and screaming into the 21st century in ways that players have never seen before.
And that’s (still!) only part of the story!
Now we are very nearly ready to make Antstream Arcade available to the world, the next part of the story is you!
Since retro gaming first became a “thing”, it’s always been about the community. We want to build an audience which is as passionate about classic gaming as we are. And we want your views to help us shape the future of retro.
Become a part of the Antstream community and you can look forward to exclusive content such as interviews with the legendary creators behind the games, detailed retrospectives on your favourite games and series, and fabulous retro-themed contests and competitions.
To join us on the journey, you can check in on this blog which will be updated regularly and follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
And if you want to make sure you are among the first to experience “retro gaming evolved”, sign up for our newsletter, and like our Facebook page, and you’ll be the first to hear about opportunities to join in with our early access program.
It’s taken a while for us to get this far - and given the scale of what we are trying to achieve, that isn’t surprising. But we’re now very close to our goal of letting you see the fruits of our labour, and it’s very exciting to have you along for the last leg of our journey.