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Antstream

British company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Antstream is a British company that runs the gaming streaming platform Antstream Arcade. The platform offers retro games from the 1970s to the 2020s.

Quick Facts Company type, Founded ...
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According to IGN, Antstream Arcade is considered to be the "world's largest officially licensed retro gaming platform".[2] It focuses on games from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.[3][4] The line-up of games consists of games for different consoles and home computers, for example the Nintendo Entertainment System, Atari 2600 and the PlayStation, and from different gaming companies.[5][4]

In his 2025 Eurogamer article, Ed Nightingale explains that new mini-games and challenges, like tournaments and high-score duels, can be added to the original games. The platform also offers online profiles, online high scores, cloud saves and resume play within the games. Furthermore, Antstream Arcade also contains new games for classic consoles by independent developers.[6]

As of March 2025, the platform offers over 1,400 games,[2] including Pac-Man, Pac-Mania, Baraduke, Galaga, Dig Dug,[2] Pong, Street Racer,[7] Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Bubble Bobble, and R-Type.[8] Will Greenwald writes in PCMag, that the platform is interesting as a history lesson of gaming. He praises the large number of available games, while criticising the TV-oriented interface that can't be operated with a PC mouse.[3]

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Access and availability

Antstream Arcade runs via an internet connection.[9] It operates on a subscription model, with monthly, yearly or lifetime options available.[10]

The service is available on PC, Mac, Linux, Android, Android TV, Fire TV, Samsung TV, and in browsers.[6] In July 2023, it became available for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.[11][6][12] Antstream was available on iOS through the App Store starting in June 2024.[13] In September 2024, Antstream was also available on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.[14]

In May 2025, a separate service, entitled "Retro Classics", became available exclusively for the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC for Xbox Game Pass members with over 50 titles from the Activision Blizzard library (Activision, Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment), along with over 100 titles being planned to be available in the future.

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History

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Steve Cottam founded Antstream in 2013 after recognizing the lack of access to many older video games, which were often only obtainable through copyright infringement.[11][15] Along with a friend, Cottam developed the company as a streaming service for retro games, starting in 2013.[16]

By 2015, they had developed a prototype and got accepted into an accelerator fund with Microsoft[16] and Ian Livingstone joined the company as chairman.[17] In June 2019, the streaming service Antstream Arcade was officially launched.[18] Also in 2019, Antstream received an investment from Tencent and was able to establish itself on various platforms.[16] Antstream received a further investment of US$3.5 million from Atari, with a total of over US$20 million invested in Antstream as of 2021.[19]

In 2025, the platform achieved 3,200% growth in new players. In total, there were over 700,000 new players and over 200,000 active users per month. Also in 2025, over three million games were downloaded from the Antstream Arcade line-up.[19] In May 2022, 27 games by the video game companies Namco and Bandai (which were merged under Bandai Namco Holdings in 2005) were licensed to Antstream Arcade, including Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug.[2]

Games

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The following is the complete list of 1,589 games available on Antstream Arcade.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

There are 59 SNES / Super Famicom titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. A homebrew title.
  2. The game is only available in Europe.
  3. A cancelled title.
  4. The game has been re-released on Antstream Arcade.
  5. This game contains four modes including Beatbox, Ignition, Nightmare and Steel Wheel.

MS-DOS

There are 8 MS-DOS titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. This game contains four modes including BabeWatch, Extreme Sports, Law 'n Justice and The Viking.

Atari Lynx

There are 6 Atari Lynx titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. The game was released on the Atari VCS.

Amstrad CPC

There are 51 Amstrad CPC titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. A homebrew title.
  2. Freddy Hardest was separated into two parts.
  3. The game is only available in Europe.

Nintendo Entertainment System

There are 51 NES / Famicom titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. A homebrew title.
  2. A cancelled title.
  3. The game is only available in Europe.
  4. The game has been re-released on Antstream Arcade.

MSX

There are 20 MSX titles and 5 MSX2 titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. A homebrew title.
  2. An MSX2 title.
  3. Both Game Over and Game Over II were separated into two parts.

ZX Spectrum

There are 332 ZX Spectrum titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. The game is only available in Europe.
  2. A homebrew title.
  3. Pro Golf II was separated into two parts.

Game Boy / Game Boy Color

There are 10 original Game Boy titles and 3 Game Boy Color titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. A Game Boy Color title.
  2. A homebrew title.
  3. An unreleased title.
  4. Includes Super Game Boy support.

Commodore 64

There are 342 Commodore 64 titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. The game is only available in Europe.
  2. Dracula was separated into three chapters, including The First Night, The Arrival and The Hunt.
  3. A homebrew title.

Amiga

There are 207 Amiga titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. The game is only available in Europe.
  2. The game has been re-released on Antstream Arcade.
  3. This game contains two modes including Single Player and Multiplayer.
  4. A homebrew title.
  5. This game contains four modes including Beatbox, Ignition, Nightmare and Steel Wheel.
  6. This game contains four modes including Billion Dollar Gameshow, Partyland, Speed Devils and Stones 'n Bones.
  7. This game contains four modes including Jackpot, Jail Break, Kick Off and Tarantula.
  8. An Amiga AGA release.
  9. This game contains four modes including Ace of Space, Mean Machines, Night of the Demon and The Pirate.

Arcade

There are 296 arcade titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. The game is only available in Europe.
  2. The game was released on the Atari VCS.
  3. The arcade release of Boulder Dash was separated into two parts.
  4. This game contains three modes including Cavity, Double and Progressive.

Atari 7800

There are 8 Atari 7800 titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. The game is only available in Europe.

Sega Genesis

There are 73 Sega Genesis / Mega Drive titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. A homebrew title.
  2. The game is only available in Europe.
  3. A cancelled title.
  4. The game has been re-released on Antstream Arcade.

Neo Geo

There are 27 Neo Geo titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. The game is only available in Europe.

Atari 5200

There is 1 Atari 5200 title available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...

Atari 2600

There are 31 Atari 2600 titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. A homebrew title.
  2. The game was released on the Atari VCS.
  3. The game is only available in Europe.

Atari 8-bit computers

There are 36 Atari 8-bit titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. The game was only available in Europe.
  2. The game was released on the Atari VCS.
  3. A homebrew title.

PlayStation

There are 24 PlayStation titles available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
  1. A Net Yaroze title.

PICO-8

There is 1 PICO-8 title available on Antstream Arcade.

More information Title, Publisher ...
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    References

    External links

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