EXAーARCADIA [New Arcade Platform/Publisher]

[tzm_rade]

So how does eXA stay in business? Their upcoming lineup is totally mediocre looking with no big classics. How do they continue to fund and develop so many exclusive products to such a niche audience? I'm in a big city in Japan and I have only found one single eXA cabinet here and it has one game. I know there are few cabinets in Tokyo in the usual spots but they aren't exactly commonplace and basically non existent in the.big mainstream game centers too. Do they really have that many hobbyist whales buying their games?

[VxD]

Totally mediocre?

In shmups alone, they have:
- Aka&Blue Type-R
- DDP SDOJ exA Label
- Akai Katana exA Label
- P-47 Aces Mk.II
- Batsugun exA Label 1.5
- Air Gallet exA Label
- Cambria Sword AC
- Touhou Perfect Sakura Fantastica
- Touhou Scarlet Diablo

The exA Label series is fantastic and the new modes are so polished they feel like completely different games.

Then on top of that they have a big presence in the fighting games scene with a growing cult following.

They have run'n'guns incoming with Demon Front exA Label and Neon Inferno exA Label.

And there are rumors they may be releasing a new DDP game soon.

Not sure what else you need.

[tzm_rade]

I did say "upcoming" so from 2026 and onwards, and I personally don't think their upcoming games are particularly interesting looking.

[VxD]

Ah sorry, missed that. Yeah, I tend to agree here, not much I'm personally looking forward to, other than Demon Front and Neon Inferno, and that rumored DDP game of course.

[tzm_rade]

Really my main question about eXA is less about the quality and cost for the consumer (argued to death already) but how they actually manage to do it when they operate in a niche within a niche. Game development and publishing is extremely expensive yet somehow they manage to fund multiple games exclusively for their platform, as well as designing and producing expensive proprietary hardware.

It's one thing to get an exclusive version of let's say a classic like Third Strike or an upcoming game like Virtua Fighter 6 and then that's the version that the arcades buy and the pros then play, but they release a lot of obscure games which arent mainstream at all and honestly a lot of the time, completely obscure. Which while not bad thing and I appreciate the effort, it doesn't make sense to me when every other games publisher in the world struggles to release games in a viable package, and they have four systems to release on.

I feel it would make a bit more sense if eXA cabinets were everywhere that you went, but they aren't at all. I struggle to find them. And then for each cabinet your chances of finding a particular game in their substantial library are quite minimal. So, again how do they keep afloat as a business? Are they a loss leader with deep pockets from somewhere? Do they have enough hobbyist customers out there who will buy something like Asuka 120% BURNING Fest. EXALLENT without question and that's enough? We'll never know probably because they don't make their finances public.

[To Far Away Times]

I had a chance to play Touhou Scarlet Diablo and that was cool. Way better than Fantastic Danmaku Festival 1 which it's based off of.

DDP SDOJ exA Label is a lot better than the base game too.

[Faith]

We'll never know probably because they don't make their finances public.

Funny thing is... I see their HQ is in... Singapore?????

This explains so much! Because I noticed their website, when looking at price, the default is in Singapore Dollar... even if you select USD they say it is "Approx USD" because it is still converted from Singapore Dollar. But, it appears, they stock hardware and ship from Japan??? So, definitely, there is some weird tax or money movement nonsense going on >.<!~ I know Singapore is very extremely pro-Business, and, example: a lot of China companies set up there to "clean" their money (this is very open big secret: I have friends who do business around Asia, they see rich people in China buy luxury goods in China, then sell in Singapore at a loss to clean the money and move it out of China)... and it is not just China, also a lot of companies from Japan in Singapore. I noticed, even my Xbox 360 Cave games... at the back, the box, say Printed in Singapore. So, with that, wonder if any of it is related with each other too? Does Cave have office in Singapore too???

[Steven]

It's a form of tax evasion. It sounds shady as hell, but it's legal, and not uncommon or unheard of. I don't know how it works, but one of the guys at my previous job officially "worked" in Japan but lived in Singapore because of this, as I guess Singapore has lower taxes. I imagine exa is doing something similar.

And yes, the question of exa's long-term stability is rather interesting, especially seeing as game centers are closing. There was a website I found a few years ago dedicated solely to tracking game centers that went out of business, which happens monthly, if not weekly. It's sad, but it's reality.

[Sumez]

Lol! Not gonna just make assumptions based on hearsay - But adding tax evasion to EXA practices *would* sound really unsurprising XD

[Steven]

It really is a legal form of tax evasion, though. If you're legally located in Singapore but operate in Japan, you avoid Japan's taxes and pay Singapore's taxes, which I guess are lower... or something like that. There's an article about it over on Nikkei from 6 months ago, if anyone wants to read it: https://asia.nikkei.com/business/financ ... e-loophole

But yeah, that guy at my old job did it. Probably still does. Only met him once because he was living in Singapore, but the one time that he did come to the office while I was working there (also when I realized he'd Photoshopped the hell out of his official portrait on the company website lol) we talked about it and he was like "yeah, I basically just live there because lower taxes" and stuff.

[Jackoz]

Lol! Not gonna just make assumptions based on hearsay - But adding tax evasion to EXA practices *would* sound really unsurprising XD

Mate this is hardly tax evasion

They are paying corporate taxes in the country their company is incorporated in

This is similar to international companies like Google or Microsoft being incorporated in the Caymans or Ireland because tax rates are lower

Many many American startups incorporate in Delaware even though they are in another state because of corporate and tax laws

This is all very normal in any global business and trying to spin like it is something shady is wrong

Anyone who thinks you are laundering money in Singapore is full of it they are one of the most advanced anti financial crime countries in the world and do not put up with any kind of illegal things

[Jackoz]

Really my main question about eXA is less about the quality and cost for the consumer (argued to death already) but how they actually manage to do it when they operate in a niche within a niche. Game development and publishing is extremely expensive yet somehow they manage to fund multiple games exclusively for their platform, as well as designing and producing expensive proprietary hardware.

It's one thing to get an exclusive version of let's say a classic like Third Strike or an upcoming game like Virtua Fighter 6 and then that's the version that the arcades buy and the pros then play, but they release a lot of obscure games which arent mainstream at all and honestly a lot of the time, completely obscure. Which while not bad thing and I appreciate the effort, it doesn't make sense to me when every other games publisher in the world struggles to release games in a viable package, and they have four systems to release on.

I feel it would make a bit more sense if eXA cabinets were everywhere that you went, but they aren't at all. I struggle to find them. And then for each cabinet your chances of finding a particular game in their substantial library are quite minimal. So, again how do they keep afloat as a business? Are they a loss leader with deep pockets from somewhere? Do they have enough hobbyist customers out there who will buy something like Asuka 120% BURNING Fest. EXALLENT without question and that's enough? We'll never know probably because they don't make their finances public.

Mate it seems unnatural I am sure

It really is as simple as the economics of arcade games is different from console games

Arcade games since the beginning are commercial products sold in low quantities and higher prices

Consoles games are sold at low prices and higher quantity.

eXa does not need to sell heaps of their products because of these economics. Console games do need to sell high volume to make money and most do not because consumers these days do not view games as what they are worth and wait for 80% off sales. No great surprise that there are so many layoffs in the game industry now.

I see people constantly talking about exa’s long term chances but if you haven’t noticed they’ve been around for 8 years already and they’re the only ones still releasing real video games and not rubbish Sega and Taito are long gone

[CStarFlare]

Intelligent entity formation is simply good sense. If Japan is upset they are in control of their own tax code and can address it.

There's a good chance that exa exists largely because the people operating it are passionate about the idea of having a hand in keeping some vibrancy in the arcade gaming scene. Same reason a lot of indie devs exist - their skills could probably earn them more money if they worked in another industry, but they prefer to do something they're passionate about.

The economics are probably made possible by working primarily with existing assets and enhancing them instead of relying on games built from the ground up.

Personally I'm eagerly awaiting Ibara and Pink Sweets exa label, haters be damned.

[SavagePencil]

The economics have always been the same: Will a $2000 game bring in 8000 quarter drops (or the equivalent in concessions)? They’re gambling on niche titles that stand out from the rest of the (b)arcade fare. Margins are thin, and the audience is tight. Only a very few games (the Dig-Dug-meets-Bomberman-with-bunnies and the cyberpunk Arkanoid, for example) have any chance of reaching a broader audience. Quite a gamble.

[To Far Away Times]

Pretty telling that I could go to the Portland Retro Game Expo and in the free play arcade I could just walk up and play the eXa cabinets with no wait. Almost all the other cabs had a wait. You’d think they’d atleast be a novelty since they’re hard to find, but no… It’s not even a shmups thing, people were queuing for Battle Garegga and Viper Phase 1.

And that’s probably one of the largest and most dedicated audiences you could hope for.

I think 3 people played the eXa cab with Touhou Scarlet Diablo on it over like a 2 hour window. On free play. Stuff like Time Crisis/Dance Dance Revolution and whatnot would have non stop play and long lines. Shmups on eXa are carving out the smallest of niches within a dying arcade niche. They may as well be targeting the home market with these things.

As an arcade operator you’d be a fool to buy one of these over a used DDR or Time Crisis or other popular arcade cab.

[SavagePencil]

I don’t know if PRGE is a great barometer (I occupied an otherwise untouched Forgotten Worlds for over an hour a couple years back), but yeah they’re definitely not prominent here, or Japan, it sounds like. But they’re holding it together…I wonder if they’re popular in Korea or South America or another market?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Pretty telling that I could go to the Portland Retro Game Expo and in the free play arcade I could just walk up and play the eXa cabinets with no wait. Almost all the other cabs had a wait. You’d think they’d atleast be a novelty since they’re hard to find, but no… It’s not even a shmups thing, people were queuing for Battle Garegga and Viper Phase 1.

And that’s probably one of the largest and most dedicated audiences you could hope for.

I think 3 people played the eXa cab with Touhou Scarlet Diablo on it over like a 2 hour window. On free play. Stuff like Time Crisis/Dance Dance Revolution and whatnot would have non stop play and long lines. Shmups on eXa are carving out the smallest of niches within a dying arcade niche. They may as well be targeting the home market with these things.

As an arcade operator you’d be a fool to buy one of these over a used DDR or Time Crisis or other popular arcade cab.

It goes to show that Seibu Kaihatsu's SPI stg of Viper Phase 1 U.S.A. with it's exclusive 2-player buy-in at anytime + exclusive 2-loop game feature (something that neither Seibu's Viper Phase (Old Version) and Viper Phase New Version include whatsoever thus making them both truely a single loop affair at best).

Fabtek made sure that VP1-USA was designed as a "purely as a quarter muncher" first & foremost and it shows in the staying longevity & tried 'n' true classic gameplay + game mechanics ever since it's September of 1995 debut in the American arcade scene -- hence it's currently popularity even to this very day (which is not surprising given that it's recent ACA release with VP1 & VP1-NV as they are with "warts and all").

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Sure, Hamster could've included VP1-USA for completeness but with Fabtek's current IP lineup of old arcade game titles still remains in "legal murkyness/uncertainly" that it's unknown whom currently owns Fabtek's old game IPs at this point in time, especially nowadays -- something that Hamster wisely avoided in the first place as it currently is.
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PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[tzm_rade]

They are around in Japan obviously. You find their cabinets in the places you expect to find them like Mikado (but not Ikebukuro last time I looked, correct me if I'm wrong) and HEY. But you don't find in them in Taito Stations, Round Ones, Capcom Plazas which get a lot of traffic and maybe people who would insert 100 yen out of curiosity. The point is you really have to go out of your way to find one of the things. You don't just stumble upon one in a random high traffic location.

But they still keep putting out game after game with lots of exclusive features and again correct me if I'm wrong but these aren't emulated versions either. They seem to have their own in-house development team. We know programmers, artists and licenses aren't cheap, so I'm very curious as to what the overall development cost is for one game is and where that money continually comes from. I'm not suggesting anything shady or illegitimate. Mainly I'm just curious as to if majority of their sales come from arcade owners who buy their games for business purposes, or retail customers who buy their stuff as a hobby?

[AGermanArtist]

I was under the impression they recruited Trap from here. I may be wrong.

[SuperPang]

trap15 and Mike Moffitt are doing some stellar work with the Exa Labels.

[Sumez]

This is similar to international companies like Google or Microsoft being incorporated in the Caymans or Ireland because tax rates are lower

Ah yeah, Google and Microsoft are definitely great examples of exemplary companies you should keep as a role model if you want to be perceived as morally admirable

[Jackoz]

They are around in Japan obviously. You find their cabinets in the places you expect to find them like Mikado (but not Ikebukuro last time I looked, correct me if I'm wrong) and HEY. But you don't find in them in Taito Stations, Round Ones, Capcom Plazas which get a lot of traffic and maybe people who would insert 100 yen out of curiosity. The point is you really have to go out of your way to find one of the things. You don't just stumble upon one in a random high traffic location.

But they still keep putting out game after game with lots of exclusive features and again correct me if I'm wrong but these aren't emulated versions either. They seem to have their own in-house development team. We know programmers, artists and licenses aren't cheap, so I'm very curious as to what the overall development cost is for one game is and where that money continually comes from. I'm not suggesting anything shady or illegitimate. Mainly I'm just curious as to if majority of their sales come from arcade owners who buy their games for business purposes, or retail customers who buy their stuff as a hobby?

On my last work trip to Kobe and Osaka I saw exas at Taito Station in Niponbashi and heaps of arcades with gamers games have machines. The big chains have rows after rows of prize machines only now. Gigo did not even have the popn music for play. I reckon this is how arcades are changing over there. Mom and pops places like Athena and Kohatsu have real games to play. Kohatsu had I want to say 7 or 8 exas running so must be doing well enough.

[Jackoz]

This is similar to international companies like Google or Microsoft being incorporated in the Caymans or Ireland because tax rates are lower

Ah yeah, Google and Microsoft are definitely great examples of exemplary companies you should keep as a role model if you want to be perceived as morally admirable

Mate trying to say that legally saving money on tax is some kind of moral issue sounds ignorant or desperate to throw shade or maybe both.

[Bassa-Bassa]

to say that legally saving money on tax is some kind of moral issue sounds ignorant

So mate, if something's legal, it is also moral?

[Sumez]

Whether it's legal or not is definitely not of my concern haha

EDIT: Honestly none of this is my concern. Just thought it was funny

[SavagePencil]

Some back of the napkin math here:

Exclusive game budgets are probably in the low- to mid- six figures
Existing games but adding ExA-exclusive features: low six figures

If each game sells for roughly $2000, you need to sell 500 units of each to get a million in revenue, which seems like enough to cover budgets + royalties + manufacturing + salaries

I think that's reasonable enough to keep them in the black. Nobody's getting rich, but I think they have enough that one hit can pay for the duds, and keep everyone employed.

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

exa embodies many of the things i hate the most about the games industry. every time i see them get their hands on another beloved game, i sigh internally.

while the talent at work is undoubtedly nice to look at, I could never support such a company. in fact, the more I've learned about it, the less I found myself even bothering to justify what they bring to the table, and it's quickly becoming another nintendo situation in my eyes - yeah the games are good, but i'd feel bad for owning any.

I will restrain myself from commenting further, feel free to just imagine the most hateful post you can, because that's the sort of attitude I have, and such posts aren't fit for these forums.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Some back of the napkin math here:

Exclusive game budgets are probably in the low- to mid- six figures
Existing games but adding ExA-exclusive features: low six figures

If each game sells for roughly $2000, you need to sell 500 units of each to get a million in revenue, which seems like enough to cover budgets + royalties + manufacturing + salaries

I think that's reasonable enough to keep them in the black. Nobody's getting rich, but I think they have enough that one hit can pay for the duds, and keep everyone employed.

The budget-minded Exa-Arcadia gaming titles such as "Astro Ninja Man DX" and others are cheaper on the wallet/purse and don't carry the four-figure price tags either.

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Plus the fact of the so-called phenomena of "FOMO" with such high-demand Exa-Arcadia stg titles such as Cave's DDP-SDOJ Exa and Aka and Blue Type-R are non-existent as you can still buy such kits brand new from them at anytime. You're already looking at $10,000+ usd easily if you buy an Exa-Arcadia motherboard kit + four of the higher priced "premium" Exa-Arcadia stg titles right "off the bat" to begin with if bought in one fell swoop "big ticket item" purchase (that amount could easily be spent towards a brand new Stern pinball machine with delivery included as well).

It's akin to the old analogy of buying three brand new fully "top of the line" 2026 Corvettes C8 Z08s Vs. buying one Ferrari or Lamborghini exotic supercar -- which would you prefer instead as an overall better monetary deal at the end of the day? It's already well-known that it already costs $50,000 in general maintenance costs/general upkeep with a Ferrari/Lamborghini per year if not used as "a daily driver vehicle" and used primarily as a "temporary 'weekend' excursion type of vehicle" instead + not to mention the auto insurance for them isn't exactly cheap these days (in the long term scheme of things to take into consideration) + that the fact of getting 10 to 12 miles per gallon in gas milage with an exotic Italian supercar -- it does certainly "add-up" in overall yearly operating costs alone. Is it truly worth it in the end for the person with plenty of "disposable income" as it is?
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PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[SavagePencil]

Some back of the napkin math here:

Exclusive game budgets are probably in the low- to mid- six figures
Existing games but adding ExA-exclusive features: low six figures

If each game sells for roughly $2000, you need to sell 500 units of each to get a million in revenue, which seems like enough to cover budgets + royalties + manufacturing + salaries

I think that's reasonable enough to keep them in the black. Nobody's getting rich, but I think they have enough that one hit can pay for the duds, and keep everyone employed.

The budget-minded Exa-Arcadia gaming titles such as "Astro Ninja Man DX" and others are cheaper on the wallet/purse and don't carry the four-figure price tags either.

Now you're getting FRONT of the napkin on me! Yeah, I assume the "limited edition" ones that go up pretty high are for the FOMO crowd.

[tzm_rade]

On my last work trip to Kobe and Osaka I saw exas at Taito Station in Niponbashi and heaps of arcades with gamers games have machines. The big chains have rows after rows of prize machines only now. Gigo did not even have the popn music for play. I reckon this is how arcades are changing over there. Mom and pops places like Athena and Kohatsu have real games to play. Kohatsu had I want to say 7 or 8 exas running so must be doing well enough.

That's interesting then. I haven't seen one in the Taitos around Tokyo and Kanagaea so maybe I'll have to do a few more thorough checks. I would like to see some eXA cabinets and play their stuff more often, especially when I'm just out and about.

Overall I would say the more traditional arcades in Japan look like they are doing reasonably well. The problem seems to arise is when the leases of their buildings run out and that seems to be the killer blow. It's just can't be viable to renew the leases long term. Which I think puts eXA in a bad position and the future of their business somewhat out of their control.