The Abema Times website reported on Monday that there are only about 4,000 arcades in Japan as of 2018, down from the peak of 26,000 arcades in 1986.

In the article, the managers of Tokyo arcades Game Spot Versus and Game Newton mentioned that console games and smartphone games have evolved to match the graphic capabilities of arcade machines, and that people can also play multiplayer over the Internet without the need to meet up in an arcade. While there are still people playing classic games such as Street Fighter II , the average age of arcade game players has steadily increased over time, to the point that arcade-run tournaments will commonly have people aged 40 or above.

The famous Kowloon-themed arcade Anata no Warehouse Kawasaki (pictured right) near Yokohama is closing on Sunday.

Source: Abema Times via Hachima Kikō

Update: Typo fixed. Thanks, Clodus