AAA 2026 Day 3: Rounding Up The Rest Of The New Arcade Games In China

The third and final day of coverage from AAA 2026 is here, which as in previous years is going to run through everyone else of interest that brought arcade video games to the expo. Many of these have had overseas representation through distributors, though none are as major as the previous few companies covered, so there’s every chance some of these new products might remain in China.

In case you missed day 1 (covering Wahlap and Bandai Namco) and day 2 (covering UNIS and Ace), find them here and here. Since we couldn’t attend ourselves, a heartful thanks as always to the sources close to us who did (particularly our half-Welsh Arcade Hero; we’re still waiting to hear from James at Alan-1, but we’ll probably do his photos as a livestream once sent), as well as Ted for helping to organize everything across all three days of this coverage.

Apologies for the issues with the site over past couple days, by the way – they’re resolved now, and we have got this fresh new look to boot, as adopting this was the only way that would fix them. Let us know what you think of it and whether anything can be changed

Let’s dive in to AAA 2026 day 3 now:

Ace Amusement Recap

First, just as we went to wire with this post Ace Amusement posted a recap video of how the show went (something Wahlap and UNIS usually do, but they haven’t always by comparison), in addition to sending over several further photos. You can find those at this link here; both have additional looks at their video games and a few redemption pieces we didn’t focus on as much.

Arccer

Arccer are an interesting example of the smaller companies on the Chinese scene, as they mainly focus on two genres: coin pushers, and more relevantly to us, rhythm games. They did turn up at IAAPA 2025 with only their pushers, but their slate of music games has been turning some heads among rhythm game fans (and even been receiving some imports). Nobody major has picked those up for distribution though, excepting UDC’s sales of one of them for Europe only.

At the moment, their main title is effectively Dance Cube Evo, which has evolved over time from being just a Maimai clone into something a little more distinct. Despite using the cabinets introduced by them a few years ago, this is not the version that UDC have for Europe though:

Baohui

Like Arccer, Baohui also make a lot of pushers and redemption, but operate similarly to Wahlap in publishing and manufacturing the cabinets for numerous titles by IGS. They do collaborate on those too, as can be seen from a few machines in the background here. It’s surprising they aren’t more well known considering they’ve been around as long as Wahlap and UNIS, though that probably speaks to what they have prioritized most over the years.

Chief among those IGS titles when it comes to video games though is Speed Rider 4DX, which debuted at last year’s AAA and has since seen major representation through Bandai Namco in North America, plus Sega Amusements in the UK and Europe. This has definitely been one of the better recent releases out of them, to the extent that a few games to come are copying its formula (alongside Phantom Vanguard).

Flamestone

Flamestone’s games have gotten around quite a bit this decade, ever since a shooting gallery game originally known as Top Gun was brought over as Skill Shooter in the UK by Electrocoin, and Quick Shot in the US by JET Games. JET have since picked up many other titles by them under the “Shot” series, culminating in the latest Giga Shot, and now they are looking to make more shooters beyond that genre. Note that things are a little confusing with their name, in part because one Leon Amusement often acts as their agent in the West, but the names are used interchangeably, which doesn’t help in clarifying any kind of relationship in front of the market.

The game they were pushing the most here was something called Flamestone Armor, which though looking like one isn’t quite a VR game, as looking inside them shows that the overhead-mounted headset displays (which feature dual wielding guns) are not for each eye. Overall it looks like a weird mix of Global VR’s Beach Head 2002 from way back when and VR Agent in cabinet shape, whilst Alpha Ops VR Strike seems to be exerting an influence from what can be seen of the game.

For that view inside the headsets, see below. It does look like these can be lowered and adjusted from above, though that system can bring with it numerous issues, such as kids and people potentially trying to hang off them and toppling the cabinet:

Then their entry in the jet fighter arms race is Flamestone Jet, where we again see a twin vertical screen cabinet with motion platforms. Weirdly though, the game itself looks more sci-fi/fantasy than being an action-packed assault on enemies over the seas. That mismatch was also there in JET Games’ localization of one of their other titles as G.I. Joe: Tank Wars, though they are making changes (it wasn’t seen here). Could they be redeveloping anything they had at AAA 2026? It’s very possible…

They have additionally been making some electromechanical shooting game ranges, such as On Target (sold by Sega Amusements over here), and for a new example of those we have Shooting Carnival. Some of the neon theme on this one looks nice, although the graphics could possibly do with a little more work:

HY Technology

HY Technology aren’t among the most well-known names out there, but they are making some interesting moves on the market, from bringing Sega Amusements’ Bop It! Arcade over officially in China to making various redemption titles of their own with some fairly unique concepts. One of the earliest of those to grab some attention was the wrecking ball videmption piece Demolition King, which despite not being represented fully in the US did see some success in the UK through Harry Levy. They’ve moved on from that since then though to other titles, and seem like something of a ‘wild card’ in the scene.

One of two intriguing new products they showed off here was this eye-catching shooter, Aegis Unbound: Chronicle of the Broken Seal. We can reveal that this is being made by none other than frequent Sega Amusements collaborators 3MindWave, whose Apex Rebels is also represented by HY in China. Not much is known about the game right now, but it does have gyro-based mechanics on top of a distinctive cabinet design. The aesthetic on it is reminiscent of Namco’s Lost Land Adventure with its post-modern ruins, but much more detailed. What’s there looks very promising, and it would certainly stop most anyone in their tracks upon seeing it. Hopefully we will see this one out West soon:

As well as Aegis Unbound, HY also had an interesting looking attempt to fuse pinball with prize redemption with Pinball Blast. We’ve seen numerous attempts at this over the years, from Jersey Jack’s recent Pinball XP system to not least HY themselves with Mini Pinball, and this is possibly the most substantial one in that it can be bought as both ticket vending game and prize merchandiser versions. The designs on the former’s rightmost machines below might need spelling corrections if it ever were to come overseas, but this does make for a rare example of someone out of Asia making a play for pinball.

Their playfields are certainly much simpler than what you would expect to find from a Western design, and it is a timed game instead of being based on the number of balls. It appears to be slightly shorter than the typical pin, but that could just be an illusion from the angle. All of the playfield lighting comes from the backdrop (the piece under the glass at the back), as it seems like there are no lights under the slingshots and other fixtures, nor as inserts. There are drop targets in the upper left are what you are aiming for – knock all five down to win the bonus. The pop bumpers are placed in an odd well of sorts, where I’ve never seen a configuration quite like that, and the central post right in the middle of the playfield is also strange, although there were some really old pins (from the pre-video game era) that might have something like that.

Here’s the prize merchandiser version, which has the same layout, but you play the game to try and win a prize. It looks unwieldly but maybe this would entice some players to try it over playing for tickets (which has been tried many times to no success, but maybe this simplified design would do the trick?). I imagine tying this to some pinball prizes or the theme could be interesting (as an example, Stern is about to unveil a new Transformers pin – imagine it connecting to a merchandiser where you could win Transformers toys and such):

Oddities aside, it could well be worth a test or two to see how these prize pinballs do out West. By the way, this is technically not all of the pinball that was at the show, so keep scrolling for that one…

Lilian

Lilian attracted some attention last year for bringing two new rhythm games in the form of Stellar Echo and a new edition of the E5 dance game series, marking out more competition to Arccer in the Chinese music games stakes. They came back here with both of those, as well as a lot of redemption games in tow.

The main new product they had here wasn’t quite a game, but is worth a small look as it’s an example of something that has been brought to arcades from time to time: karaoke booths, with Sing A Rec. 

SEA

SEA have been responsible for a few smaller scale titles out there, most recently including Big Sea Fishing for Sega Amusements. Before that, they also made the kiddie driver Hot Riders, which Sega similarly picked up and was at Arcade Galactic for a little while (before it broke – it’s still in the back, but collects dust as I focus on other things). They have additionally had a throughline in videmption shooters such as Ice Crackers, though none of these have been released over here.

One of the few moves we’ve seen by SEA into bigger non-redemption games was here, sporting a license of some small notability. Ling Cage is a straightforward looking light-gun game based on the Chinese 3D animated sci-fi series of the same name, which should give it some pull over there. This seems unlikely to make the jump West though.

Superwin

Superwin are an odd one in that they have been around longer than some of the other names here, but haven’t quite got to the same level as Wahlap or UNIS in terms of size or recognition, despite a few successful titles. These have included Sega Amusements’ Allstars Basketball, LAI Games’ Smash DX, and perhaps most infamously Ice Man, which popularized water gun shooters through Coastal Amusements. They are another where their naming scheme is a little weird, as though you always see Superwin in the logo, they are officially known as Superwing, which isn’t carried through elsewhere due to some copyright problems with a children’s animated show (which has had kiddie rides by UNIS, and a game by Ace).

Both of their main games here follow recent releases out of IGS closely. The one that can already be seen out front in the above booth photo is this one, Flash Rider. Where Speed Rider 4DX had the first bike that shifts in accordance with players’ drift lever use, this purports to have the same for car racing games. They are also riding the big screen bandwagon hard, since as well as this stacked version, they have got new vertical screen MAX editions for both this and its motorbike counterpart from last year, Flash Rider. Nobody notable on the market has picked that one up out West, so it will be surprising if this ever comes over as well:

Superwin’s other new debut aping a recent IGS game is Mission X, where we have our second shooter going for the Phantom Vanguard approach of providing a mount to insert the gun into, following Ace’s Cold Trigger from day 2. The slight difference here is that Superwin’s effort does away with simple pistols, instead using bigger machine guns (though not as big as other titles, and they are plastic, not metal). It otherwise looks very similar; it’s a shame they can’t come up with something more different. Even The Future and Mini World, two other Superwin shooters recently promoted by Bandai Namco here, stand out more due to their themes, despite their gameplay being nothing especially spectacular either.

The Rest

Onto all the other companies and one-off games from AAA 2026 that are worth a small mention, as even the above names are hardly the only further examples that could be seen there.

To give them their mention, Yuto Games have been on their usual social media marketing blitz, continuing to be one of the few Chinese companies that aggressively promotes product online. Whether it is any good is another matter entirely, but that doesn’t stop them from posting numerous videos like this one from the show. They have mostly been pushing their new Chasing Speed racer there, which makes the odd choice of using vertical screens on a F1 simulator game with flat courses. They also had something that looks close to what you’d expect to see from DOF Robotics, with a giant military vehicle and multiple player stations.

Tecway is a name that has been on our radar for a little while now, with them being one of the longer-running names to come out of Taiwan, and it turns out that has earnt them a close working relationship with Bandai Namco. We previously saw them exhibit the Gator Panic kiddie ride from BN, and as can be seen below, they are involved with the recent Pac-Man kiddie ride and whack a mole/ghost machines, which are pretty nicely themed (though do command a high price due to the property). Tecway are another company with a stacked screen racer too, though they’re all blending into one by this point:

We had a little bit of focus on Jiaxin in last year’s Chinese trade show coverage for being a relatively newer name, but it looks like their M.O. right now is to mostly imitate what various other Chinese companies are doing, resulting in what seem to be heavily watered down games (with a special focus on those big screen racers that everyone seems to have now, and a few horse racing titles which have multiple motion seats all sharing one screen):

Last year’s Chinese trade shows saw the mysterious case of a touchscreen rhythm game called Magic Sound, which suddenly turned up on multiple distributors’ booths at the AAA and GTI shows with little to no concrete information on who was actually making it. We still don’t know much on that front, as can sometimes be the case with Chinese games, but it was certainly available again here through Xitan:

In terms of the more redemption-focused companies out there in China, Playmore has to be one of the biggest, with them responsible for numerous coin pushers brought over through LAI Games in recent years and the High Five cranes. Last year they did launch their own original card game piece, and they showed off a natural extension of the stacked two screens concept with some sort of lottery (?) game (don’t expect this one to come outside of China, as it practically looks like a casino piece):

Tong-Li also specialize first and foremost in redemption, often working with UNIS and Andamiro on their pushers. Like Playmore though, last year we did see them unveil a new card game, and this year they have continued by bringing out a light-gun game called Dino Land.  They did recently unveil this over on Linkedin, for a closer look at it, though the game doesn’t look too special besides a decent cabinet design. That includes a 3D sculpted velociraptor head, which apparently has a nozzle inside (perhaps for a water mist spray or smoke?).

Finally, one curiosity specifically picked out to us is this unusual looking piece by Oculeap, who have previously been a heavy proponent of virtual reality, but are clearly pivoting to other avenues with that technology cooling. Among them is Ion Strike, an interesting looking ‘phygital’ (physical/digital) interpretation of pinball, which sees players actuate their flippers on two step pads wired up to a robot-themed video pinball table. Oculeap have got a quick clip of this on their Instagram; I think with a more DDR-like foot pad (something with both sensors on a single platform and a back bar) that the concept would work better here, but it’s good to see the creativity.

Overall

By all indicators, AAA 2026 was a successful, busy show. For a small overview of the trends there, it’s notable that two of the biggest titles shown off here (the Chinese edition of NBA Superstars, and Cyberpunk 2077: Chrome Rush) were based on Western rather than Asian IP, which goes to show where the big blockbuster winds are blowing currently over there. Outside of a few imaginative-looking titles worthy of special mention though, such as Aegis Unbound and Ion Strike above, there perhaps isn’t as much originality coming out of China as would be preferred at the present moment. Copies and bootlegs out of the country have always been a problem, but with the advent of AI it does seem that some out there are simply flipping the assets of existing titles, throwing in a small change or two, and selling them at cheaper prices, which is a shame.

What will head West out of everything that was shown off remains to be seen, but I know numerous people at manufacturers here who were in attendance to do their scouting. Several of these pieces will certainly find their way to both Europe and North America, though it might be a little bit before we see exactly what that entails. Outside of UNIS, who will bring most of their titles over, Asphalt 9 Legends Arcade Plus and Aegis Unbound seem to be strong candidates; I also would guess that JET Games will be grabbing Flamestone Jet. Ace is making bigger moves here too, which could include more partnering with Coastal, plus Amusement Source International. Seeing experiments with pinball was additionally a definite surprise, however I imagine that if one of the pinball makers here wanted to do something like them, they’d come up with a different design.

Note that since we are still expecting to receive more media of this show here soon, there will likely be another livestream that covers anything else we come across. Also, I (Arcadian) have done some coverage for the LBX Collective on the show, which will air on YouTube this Sunday.

Is there anything you’ve seen in our AAA 2026 coverage that you’d like to play, or see at an arcade near you?

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