We’re excited to share that Antstream Arcade, a cross-platform streaming platform focusing on retro games, is now available on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, bringing its current library of over 1,300 retro games to Xbox consoles. Jump in today and play classics like Mortal Kombat, Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Earthworm Jim from your couch. Experience classic PS1 and Nintendo games such as Loaded, Indiana Jones Greatest Adventures, and Super Star Wars with your Xbox controller in hand. With Antstream Arcade you can experience these games today, fully optimized, and ready to go at the push of a button. Simply create an account, sign in, and start playing!
- Antstream Arcade is the largest retro gaming platform with the biggest catalog of classic games that can be streamed straight to you on your Xbox console.
- Antstream Arcade endeavors to craft a catalogue of games which raises awareness of gaming history and keeps the spirit of their creators alive.
- Antstream Arcade is now available for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. You can find it here on the Xbox Store.
The Importance of Game Curation to Antstream
When the company was formed in 2013, one of the key motivations behind the product was preservation. There are decades of incredible games which are no longer available legally. Sure, many of these titles can be downloaded and played with emulators and ROMs but that experience is uncomfortable. The configuration of Emulators and ROMs is a technological barrier for many gamers.
Antstream’s easy ‘pick up and play’ mechanic makes these games accessible to everyone. In my position as Customer Support manager, I’ve had emails from six-year-old kids telling me that they’ve had a blast playing Double Dragon. Another recent email was from a 72-year-old who needed help completing Dizzy. Antstream is incredibly easy to use.
“Many of us grew up playing these games, so the ability to stream them on Xbox consoles and share these experiences with our friends and family is incredible,” said Sarah Bond, CVP of game creator experience and ecosystem at Microsoft. “We’re pleased that with Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub’s technology benefits and Azure cloud services we can help enable Antstream to reach more players.”
Coming back to the preservation aspect. It’s painful to see games lost to time. Antstream is a fantastic platform for people to experience games that they have never played before. Also, to find and discover games that were cancelled or not released. We are crafting a catalogue of titles which raise awareness of gaming history and keep the spirit of their creators alive.
This has been recognized by TIGA, Antstream has won an award for games curation.
New’ Retro Games on the Platform
A unique aspect to Antstream’s approach to game curation is how we support independent developers who are continuing to release games on retro platforms. For example, Turbo Tomato is an Amiga game released last year. It has become hugely popular thanks to Antstream. We also include these in our challenges and tournaments.
Challenges and Tournaments
Antstream is also creating longer lasting appeal with classic games with our unique challenge system. These titles are back-engineered to create a competitive system which allows you to experience these well-loved titles in new ways. These are ‘game modes’ such as ‘one-life challenges’ that extend the life of these titles and create new interest in the community.
In the past 12 months, we have introduced a new mode called Giant Slayer. This is centered around our growing community. One person sets up a challenge and then is presented to the community. They must try and beat the challenger for kudos and precious gems. Giant Slayer challenges are created by the players for other players. This keeps our community constantly engaged and involved in the product in a greater way than other streaming services.
We also feature tournaments. Here you can pit your high scores and feats against others in games like Dig Dug, Marble Madness, Double Dragon and Mortal Kombat. Scoring highly in these contests payout gems that you can spend on other games or for entering future tournaments.
The ‘power’ of Antstream
Speaking to Microsoft Game Dev Blog about how Azure powered Antstream, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Antstream Arcade Steve Cottam shared, “Microsoft was the right technical ally for us because it has a high density of servers globally, which was how we knew we could scale our service. By connecting gameplay to a nearby Azure virtual machine, we make sure that the time between a player pressing a controller button and something appearing on their screen is less than 50 milliseconds.”
Simply put – Antstream is the authentic arcade experience in your living room. I grew up in those halcyon days of big box cabinets, challenging your mates on Street Fighter or playing co-op on the X-Men arcade. Antstream delivers that experience with its emphasis on community and fun. That’s an aspect in modern gaming which seems missing now. Fun. Antstream delivers that in spades as well as a sense of achievement.
Antstream Arcade
Antstream Ltd
* Participate in global weekly tournaments. Take on the world and show everyone your elite gaming skills.
* Set a community challenge with Giant Slayer. Take on the global community of retro gamers by setting a high score and challenging them to beat it. Will the community slay your score or will you be a giant amongst them?
* Pick up that second controller and enjoy some classic couch co-op action with some of the best Beat’em ups, Shmups, Fighters, Platformers, and more at your fingertips.
* Save your game at any point and pick up where you left off. Multiple people playing the same game? No problem, you have 4 save slots on every game to play with and a continue to pick up wherever you left off.
* Leave your mark by immortalizing yourself in the high score table of any game or challenge.
* Challenge a friend in Duel. Play any challenge and see if they can beat you.
Antstream Arcade is the largest Retro Gaming platform with the biggest catalog of classic games that can be streamed straight to you. The Arcade is constantly being updated with new games, challenges, features, and game modes. This purchase gives you a full year’s access and can be extended with 1-year subscription.
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