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Antstream Arcade has been around for a fair while, although it might not have registered much with those outside of its hardcore PC, Mac and Android user base. However, the retro games service is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S too, so many more can now find out what it’s all about.
We have to say that the cloud gaming service is among the best available, too. Games load instantly and there are more than 1,400 available. So, here’s our guide on Antstream Arcade, how much it costs and how you can play its huge library of some of the best retro games around.
What is Antstream Arcade?
Antstream Arcade is a cloud service that is home to more than 1,400 games taken from the glory years of computer and video gaming. You download a client (app) and choose any of its titles, it will then load for you to play.
As it’s a cloud gaming platform, video of gameplay is streamed over the internet to your device, while your controller actions (using a dedicated controller or touchscreen) are sent the other way. Latency is nigh-on unnoticeable and it seems, for all intents and purposes, like you are playing the game live on your local device.
Antstream’s technology is excellent and holds up well in comparison with better known cloud services, like Xbox Cloud Gaming, Amazon Luna and Nvidia GeForce Now. And, thanks largely to the games being far less data intensive than modern titles, there’s barely any load times before you are straight into the action.
Games are taken from across multiple decades and include arcade machine classics, plus titles originally released on ZX Spectrum, C64, Atari 2600, Commodore Amiga, Amstrad CPC, NES, SNES, Sega Mega Drive, and other machines of the 80s and 90s.
As well as allow you to play each game, you can also compete in curated, timed tournaments and challenges with or against other players.
How much does Antstream Arcade cost?
Antstream Arcade is available for different prices, depending on your device.
You basically pay for the service outright on Xbox consoles, either £29.99 / $29.99 for a whole year’s access, or £79.99 / $79.99 for lifetime membership. The latter means you’ll never have to pay another penny.
On all other devices, you can play Antstream Arcade games for free but will be served adverts. If you want to remove the ads, you can pay £39.99 / $39.99 for a year’s premium membership, or £7.99 / $7.99 per month.
What platforms is Antstream Arcade available on?
Antstream Arcade is available on the following platforms. You can download the client from the company’s dedicated website or the relevant game/app stores.
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android
- Atari VCS
- Nvidia Shield TV
- PC / Mac
- Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
You can use a Bluetooth controller with many of them, including devices like the Razer Kishi or Backbone One on Android phones.
Backbone One for Android
The Backbone One controller clips onto your Android phone through its USB-C port and gives you no-latency gaming – effectively turning it into a handheld machine.
£99.99Naturally, the Xbox console version uses the Xbox Wireless Controller.
Antstream is currently also working on a browser experience for Antstream Arcade, which will be released soon.
Antstream Arcade games list
Considering there are at least 1,400 games available on Antstream Arcade, with more added each week, there are far too many to list here.
You can check out the current games lineup on Antstream’s own website though.
What else you need to know
Another cool feature of Antstream Arcade is that it will store up to four save game states in the cloud, no matter whether the original game offered saves or not. One of them is an auto-save, so you can quit a game and continue it again on any of your registered devices.
The other three can be manually controlled via the pause menu pop-up.
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