A licensed arcade machine is one whose seller states that the games are licensed, ideally naming the company that granted the license. We label every listing by what its own product page says, from "Licensed, licensor named" down to "Game licensing not stated", so you can see the basis before you buy.
The labels describe a page, not a verdict. A missing statement does not prove a product is unlicensed, and a label is not a ruling on whether a product is lawful. Counts and examples below come from our 123 published listings, checked September 30, 2026, with maker store prices re-read October 1, 2026.
The five labels
| Label | What the seller's page says | Listings |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed, licensor named | Names the company that licensed the games | 32 |
| Official titles named, licensor not stated | Names official game titles, but not who licensed them | 20 |
| Licensed, per the maker | Says the games are licensed, but names neither titles nor licensor | 4 |
| Game licensing not stated | Includes or advertises games, often a large unnamed count, with no licensing statement | 32 |
| Bring your own games | Includes no games; the buyer supplies the software or system | 34 |
One more listing, the Arcade1Up Claw Machine, is a physical prize claw rather than a video game, so it carries a sixth label, "No video games".
Licensed, licensor named
The strongest statement a page can make. Examples:
- Arcade1Up Pac-Man Deluxe, $499.99 as of October 1, 2026: the page states its 14 games were "Created by Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. (previously NAMCO)."
- Iconic Arcade Street Fighter II: The World Warrior XT, $899.99: the maker states "official Capcom-licensed" games.
- Numskull Space Invaders Quarter Arcade, £249.99: "Official Taito product."
- Pac-Man's Pixel Bash Home Cabaret, $3,299: made by Bandai Namco, the rights holder, so maker and licensor are the same company.
Official titles named, licensor not stated
The page lists real, recognizable games but does not say who licensed them. The Mortal Kombat II Countercade ($159.99) names Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, with no licensor on the page we checked. The AtGames Legends Ultimate CE-HD ($899.99 list, sold out on October 1, 2026) names titles such as Centipede, Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble and Missile Command among its 300 games.
We do not fill in a licensor the page leaves out, even when the same maker names one on a sibling product. The Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga Class of '81 Deluxe stays in this group even though Arcade1Up's Pac-Man Deluxe page names Bandai Namco.
Licensed, per the maker
The seller says "licensed" but stops there. All four listings with this label are Dream Arcades cabinets, such as the Cabaret Dreamcade 2.0 ($2,199 on sale): "Over 300 Licensed Games Included," with no titles or licensor named on the page. The Vision 40 listing adds that the games come on original discs for licensing.
Game licensing not stated
The page includes games, often thousands, and says nothing about licensing. Examples:
- Tiny Arcade Machines Premium Bartop Plug and Play, from €499: "5,000+ pre-installed games."
- Polycade Sente, $2,499: "more than 3,500 games."
- Creative Arcades 2P Cocktail, from $1,948: "60-412 classic games included."
This is the most common label for premium multi-game cabinets. Of the 53 premium prebuilt listings, 32 fall here.
Bring your own games
No games in the box. Every DIY kit, plan and control set carries this label, along with some assembled cabinets. The Rec Room Masters Upright Xtension 4-player ($1,195) states it is "Pre-Configured to MAME Straight Out-Of-The-Box," but ships with no games.
What "licensed" means on a product page
When a page names a licensor, the seller is saying a specific company agreed to let these specific games run on this machine. For a buyer, that tells you:
- Exactly which games you get. Most licensed machines in our data name 1 to 32 games. The exception is Dream Arcades' Bartop Minicade, with "over 250 licensed games" from brands it names, including Atari, Midway and Namco.
- Who stands behind the game content. The rights holder's name is on the page.
- What you are paying for. A licensed cabinet with a short list often costs less than an unnamed library of thousands, because the price covers fewer, specific games.
What a label cannot tell you: build quality, screen quality or how the controls feel. For those, read the maker's specs on each listing and public reviews.
Large game counts with no licensing statement
A page that advertises "20,000 games" or "5,000+ games" and names none, or names a few famous ones, gets "Game licensing not stated." We report what the page says and the count it claims. We do not guess where the games came from.
Is there an arcade cabinet that can play all games? No listing we track names every game, and no licensed machine offers more than a few hundred titles. Dream Arcades' "over 300 Licensed Games" is the largest licensed count in our data. Preloaded counts in the thousands appear only on pages with no licensing statement. Dream Arcades also advertises access to "over 100,000 titles" through its Retro Reload software, which it describes separately from the 300 included games.
Bring-your-own machines and MAME
Can a MAME cabinet be licensed? MAME itself is free, open-source software. Its developers state that game ROM images are copyrighted and "cannot be distributed without the explicit permission of the copyright holder(s)" (mamedev.org, checked October 1, 2026). So the question is about the games, not the cabinet. A MAME cabinet runs whatever its owner supplies: games they own, licensed collections, or free and homebrew games released by their authors.
Some DIY kits are cut to hold a drop-in multi-game console. The kit itself includes no games, so it is labeled "Bring your own games." The consoles are a separate product, and the next section covers them.
What we will never link to
- ROM, BIOS or game download sites. The site's build check rejects these links.
- Products we logged during research and left out: 5 products or product groups, including ROM or game packs sold as such, multi-thousand-game boxes and sticks that advertise famous titles among unnamed libraries, and cabinets that use a game company's names or art without a stated license.
If you think a label is wrong, the seller's page has changed, or a licensor statement exists that we missed, tell us. We will re-check the page and update the label, its basis and its date. How we check every fact is on the methodology page.
Sources
- Arcade1Up, Pac-Man Deluxe: https://arcade1up.com/products/pac-man-deluxe-arcade-game-1 (price read October 1, 2026)
- Numskull Designs, Official Space Invaders Quarter Size Arcade: https://numskull.com/collections/quarter-arcades/products/official-space-invaders-quarter-size-arcade-cabinet (checked September 30, 2026)
- Dream Arcades, Cabaret 2.0: https://www.dreamarcades.com/cabaret.php and Vision 40: https://dreamarcades.com/vision40.php (checked September 30, 2026)
- Tiny Arcade Machines, Premium Bartop Plug and Play: https://www.tinyarcademachines.com/premium-bartop-arcade-plug-and-play/ (checked September 30, 2026)
- Rec Room Masters, Upright Xtension 4-player: https://recroommasters.com/product/upright-4-player-arcade-machine/ (checked September 30, 2026)
- MAME project, About MAME: https://www.mamedev.org/about.html (checked October 1, 2026)
Related
- Licensed, licensor named
- The product’s own page names the company that licensed its games. 32 listings.
- Official titles named, licensor not stated
- The page names official game titles but does not say who licensed them. 20 listings.
- Licensed, per the maker (titles and licensor not named)
- The product’s own page says its games are licensed, but names neither the titles nor the licensor. 4 listings.
- Game licensing not stated
- Games are included or advertised, often as a large unnamed count, with no statement about licensing. 32 listings.
- Bring your own games
- No games are included. The buyer supplies the software, games or system. 34 listings.
- No video games
- A physical game, such as a claw machine, with no video games, so game licensing does not apply. 1 listing.
How a label is set
A person reads what each product page says about its games and records the label with that wording and its source. We do not name a licensor that the page does not name, even when the maker’s other products name one. The wording and source appear on every listing.
What labels do not say
A label describes what a page states. It is not a ruling on whether a product is lawful, and a missing statement does not prove a product is unlicensed.
Not listed
29 products or product groups found during research are logged and not listed: ROM or game packs sold as such, multi-thousand-game boxes and sticks advertising famous titles among unnamed libraries, and cabinets that use a game company’s names or art without a stated license.