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In the '80s and '90s, arcades were a fairly common community staple throughout the United States, whether standalone or attached to other facilities like movie theaters or malls. Sadly, the ubiquity of home game consoles that were popular in the '80s, compounded by diminishing financial returns, gradually made arcades obsolete, and by the early-to-mid-2000s, they gradually vanished from the country. However, in the modern day, arcades have started to make a comeback in a big way, and while they naturally have their appeal with millennials who grew up with them, members of Gen Z have also found themselves drawn to arcades in search of a new place to hang out.
Gen Z grew up in a time when arcades and many other safe places to socialize were being gradually phased out, leaving them bereft of public spaces where they could connect with others. The arcade resurgence, whether in the form of traditional arcades like Round1 or Barcade, which caters to an older clientele, has given the young folk of the United States a fun place to hang out, meet friends, and generally do something besides stare at their phone in their bedroom.
Gen Z have found themselves largely without third places
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Every person, whether a child, teen, or adult, generally spends their time in at least two places: home, and either school or work. In the 1980s, an urban sociologist named Ray Oldenburg coined a term for any space where a person could spend time outside of those two places, aptly named the "third place." In decades past, third places were relatively plentiful, both for young folks and working adults.
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, though, third places in the United States seemed to be on a downturn, either closing, becoming more expensive, or becoming harder to access without personal transport. After a period of such pervasive isolation, the arcade revival has proven invaluable.
While going to an arcade isn't free, it's still a third place where you can spend hours on end, either with a group of friends or simply in the company of other human beings. Both chain arcades like Round1 and smaller, privately-owned arcades have become hot spots for the socialization-starved of Gen Z, with older Gen Zers also appreciating the advent of Barcade for the added social lubricant of alcoholic drinks. Gen Z has also begun to find physical media more appealing than streaming, which both retro and modern arcades provide plentiful access to.