Antstream CEO, Steve Cottam, recaps some of the key launches and challenges from 2024.
It's been another busy year at Antstream Arcade HQ, with new games, tournaments, features and more arriving throughout 2024. Join us as we celebrate some of the highlights of another classic gaming year on the world's biggest and best retro gaming streaming platform.
Undoubtedly the brightest news of 2024 was in September with the debut of Antstream Arcade on the Sony PlayStation 4 and 5, instantly bringing hundreds of retro classics to the PlayStation audience. Three months earlier, Antstream arrived on iOS, while we celebrated an action-packed launch anniversary on Microsoft Xbox in July. These additions helped make Antstream Arcade the most widely distributed retro cloud gaming platform in the world.
But new platforms would be nothing without games. Throughout 2024, Antstream Arcade maintained its promise to deliver quality new titles each week across various genres and systems. In January, we began with a bang (or should that be a punch) with the Super Nintendo beat-'em-up Rival Turf! closely followed by the blazing-hot Commodore Amiga indie shooter Reshoot Proxima 3. In fact, as in previous years, Antstream continued its commitment to indie gaming – but more on that shortly.
Several new game companies and platforms arrived on Antstream Arcade during 2024, most notably in our strong final quarter finish. The addition of PlayStation Net Yaroze games was the quirkiest launch, as Antstreamers got to sample some of those homemade console games that helped compel a whole new generation of coders and artists into the games industry.
The Antstream Arcade Blog gave the lowdown on the Net Yaroze, and we were celebrating again in December as three iconic Disney games, Aladdin, The Lion King and The Jungle Book, appeared on Antstream Arcade for the first time. Earlier in the year, the popular German developer Factor 5 also arrived, bringing with it the classic run-and-gun game Turrican, plus its sequels and director's cuts from over the Amiga, SNES and Sega Mega Drive.
Arcade games have always been one of the cornerstones of Antstream, and 2024 saw a notable cluster of new arcade legends hit the service. We catered for shooting fans with Data East's Midnight Resistance (also available on Commodore Amiga), twin-stick trailblazers Berzerk and its sequel, Frenzy, and the action-packed top-down sci-fi epic Steel Force.
Prefer a bit of hand-to-hand combat?
Antstream Arcade had you covered, with violent brawlers such as SNK's Mutation Nation and the genre-inspiring Karate Champ landing during 2024. We also added the renowned digging platformers Lode Runner, Lode Runner 2 and Lode Runner 3, ancient Egyptian-set hack-and-slasher Big Karnak, the cute fruit-eating Zippy Bug and Galeco's colourful 1992 platform game Thunder Hoop.
Away from the arcades, Antstream bolstered its 16 and 32-bit library during 2024. The previously unreleased Super Nintendo game Mr Tuff arrived in March, with B.O.B., Stone Protectors, First Samurai and the celebrated shoot-'em-up Xenon also added to our Super Nintendo roster. Meanwhile, on the original PlayStation, we welcomed Hogs Of War, Street Racer, Tigershark and more.
With the continuation of our support for the 8-bit era – including a special remaster of Clive Townsend's brilliant Spectrum game, Saboteur! – it remained clear throughout 2024 that whatever your genre or system preference, there's always something to play on Antstream Arcade. And it isn't just classic games that get the Antstream treatment – our commitment to indie gaming, specifically new games on retro platforms, continued throughout 2024.
Nintendo Entertainment System fans benefitted here with releases such as Jane Austen's 8-Bit Adventure, the charming Doodle World and the chin-stroking puzzler Witch N' Wiz. But there were plenty of new games to enjoy on other systems too, such as Super JetPak DX and In The Dark (GameBoy Color), Devwill Too (Mega Drive) and the aforementioned Reshoot Proxima 3 (Commodore Amiga).
A cornerstone of Antstream Arcade is its community, and nothing represents this better than our tournaments. 2024 saw over 50 more tournaments appear on Antstream Arcade, starting with a devilish R-Type competition in January and culminating with the Pixel Addict-sponsored Xenon 2: Megablast tournament in December, giving out great prizes including subscriptions not just to the winners but to randomly-selected participants too. Other popular tournaments included the month-long Alien Ambush (Space Invaders) and Force Your Way Forward (R-Type), while the week-long Mushroom Muncher (Centipede) and You Call This Archaeology (Spelunker) instigated seven days of heated competition among retro gaming fans. Additionally, Antstream Arcade's challenges continued throughout the year, with many more one-life, time and skill-based trials testing Antstreamers against each other or solo.
Sadly, we had to say goodbye to a few titles in 2024, most notably 5 from Cave Interactive. These spectacular experiences in bullet hell were popular – especially Dangun Feveron – and we are working with the IP owners to bring them back to Antstream in the near future. Despite this, Antstream Arcade remained committed throughout the year to bringing new games to the platform every week, and onwards throughout 2025.
What's in store in 2025 for Antstream Arcade We have lots more exciting things to bring Retro Games and arcade fans alike in 2025 which is shaping up to be our biggest year of content and launches yet.
More Indie titles, including further Net Yaroze games
More big IP games following the Disney games launch in December
The debut of new systems to Antstream Arcade, including Pico-8 in January ‘25
New tournaments and sponsored events with games industry partners
New social channels
Even more ways to play as Antstream Arcade expands to new platforms
We look forward to celebrating some amazing new adventures with our community, and those just joining us for another action-packed year.
Steve Cottam, Antstream CEO