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Buying and operating an Arcade can be confusing for many players. Therefore, this GTA 5 Online Arcade guide will help you acquire the property and teach you how to operate it. The Retro Arcade is one of the most prominent properties as well as businesses in the multiplayer game. It unlocks one of the biggest money-making methods and various other perks that change the quality of life in-game.
The GTA 5 Online Arcade guide will brief you on the following things:
- How to acquire the property
- What are the best ways to set it up
- Understanding the important upgrades and equipment
- The money-making methods
However, there are some prerequisites that you must complete before acquiring the property. More are discussed below.
Note: Some parts of this GTA 5 Online Arcade guide are subjective and only reflect the writer’s opinions.
GTA 5 Online Arcade guide: Understanding the prerequisites
The Retro Arcade business in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online is not available for purchase by default. You must first unlock it by meeting Lester Crest in Mirror Park. There should be a big green L marker on your game map in the Mirror Park area. Visit the marker to trigger a long cutscene.
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You will meet Lester Crest, Georgina Cheng, and her team there who will talk about the Diamond Casino Heist. Toward the end of the cutscene, Lester will tell you about purchasing a Retro Arcade. Once the cutscene is over, the property will be available for purchase on the Maze Bank Foreclosures website.
If you don’t see the green L marker on the map, you may have already completed the cutscene process before. The GTA 5 Online Arcade guide advises you to check the Maze Bank Foreclosures website to confirm it. If it is still not there, try restarting the game or contact Rockstar Games support. Either the mission marker or the property listing should appear in the game to move forward.
Also read: Grand Theft Auto Online strategy guide
How to buy a Retro Arcade in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online
Once you have completed the prerequisites, the Retro Arcade property should be listed on the Maze Bank Foreclosures website. The GTA 5 Online Arcade guide readers should follow these steps to acquire it:
- Go to the eyefind.info homepage on your GTA 5 Online phone or laptop.
- Click on the Money and Services tab and then the Maze Bank Foreclosures website on the list.
- Click on the Arcade option in the top right corner to filter out all the Retro Arcade locations.
- Select any of the locations you want to set up your business.
- Go through the customization options and select the ones you desire.
- Once satisfied with everything, click on the Buy button.
It is worth noting that Rockstar Games offers six locations to set up your Retro Arcade business in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online. All of them have different base price tags. The Arcades are as follows:
- Eight-Bit Arcade - $2,530,000
- Insert Coin Arcade - $2,345,000
- Warehouse Arcade - $2,135,000
- Videogeddon Arcade - $1,875,000
- Wonderama Arcade - $1,565,000
- Pixel Pete's Arcade - $1,235,000
You will need at least between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000 to buy the property and its customizations in one go. If you do not have enough money, we suggest you check out the Grand Theft Auto 5 money guide to know the good income sources.
While most of the customizations for the Arcade business are visual, players should opt for the following based on their budget and needs:
- Personal Quarters: $150,000
- High Score Screens: $295,000
- 10-vehicle Garage: $215,000
While you have the complete liberty to set up your Retro Arcade at any of the locations, if you want suggestions, the GTA 5 Online Arcade guide would like to advise players to get the Videogeddon Arcade. It is located in La Mesa and is very close to The Diamond Casino & Resort.
Similarly, it is strongly advised to avoid the Wonderama Arcade (Grapeseed, Blaine County) and Pixel Pete's Arcade (Paleto Bay, Blaine County) as they are located too far away from the main city. You will get tired of traveling up and down on the map during business operations.
Also read: Grand Theft Auto Online buying guide
How to properly set up the Retro Arcade business in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online
Setting up the Retro Arcade is not that hard, but players must know how to do it properly. As soon as you enter the property after buying it, you will trigger a long cutscene featuring Jimmy De Santa, Lester Crest, Georgina Cheng, and Wendy. Once the cutscene is over sit down on the office laptop connected to the Pixel Emporium network and click on the Start button.
The setup mission requires you to steal a truck loaded with Arcade equipment. Once you get the vehicle, drive it back to your property. While this completes the initial setup process, there are still three more important upgrades to acquire. They are as follows:
- Retro Arcade Games and Cabinets
- Master Control Terminal
- Drone Station
These upgrades will be available on the Pixel Emporium laptop once your Retro Arcade business is up and running. At first, the GTA 5 Online Arcade guide advises you to get the Retro Arcade Games and Cabinets as they will start generating money while you set up the other things.
Rockstar Games offers 17 video game machines that you can purchase from the Pixel Emporium network for your Retro Arcade. Each machine offers a different game and has different price tags. They are as follows:
- Street Crimes: Gang Wars Edition - Free
- Invade and Persuade II - $245,000
- Badlands Revenge II - $362,500
- Race and Chase: Street Legal - $410,000
- Race and Chase: Crotch Rockets - $385,000
- Race and Chase: Get Truckin' - $369,500
- The Wizard’s Ruin - $420,000
- Space Monkey 3: Bananas Gone Bad - $360,000
- Shiny Wasabi Kitty Claw - $295,000
- Madam Nazar Speaks Fortune Teller - $315,000
- The Love Professor - $261,000
- Defender of Faith - $152,500
- Monkey’s Paradise - $90,000
- Penetrator - $101,500
- Axe of Fury - $666,000
- QUB3D - $333,000
- Camhedz - $362,500
The Street Crimes: Gang Wars Edition video game machine comes complimentarily with the Retro Arcade property. The main reason why you should get these machines is that the more machines you have in your business, the more NPC customers will visit it, and the more money will be generated in the Safe Locker.
Therefore, the GTA 5 Online Arcade guide advises players to buy video game machines as per their budget or as they see fit.
The next two things you will be buying are the Master Control Terminal ($1,740,000) and the Drone Station ($1,460,000). Follow these steps to get them:
- Log into the Pixel Emporium laptop and click on the Upgrades button in the top right corner.
- Click on the purchase button in the Master Control Terminal tab to add it to your Retro Arcade.
- Click on the purchase button in the Drone Station tab to add it to your Retro Arcade.
- Log out of the laptop.
How does the Master Control Terminal and the Drone Station help in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online
The Master Control Terminal is one of the most crucial upgrades not only for the Retro Arcade business but for overall quality-of-life improvement in the multiplayer game. It adds a controlling terminal inside your Arcade that allows you to operate various other major businesses in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online (both CEO and MC Club businesses).
You can control the following businesses through the Master Control Terminal:
- Nightclub
- Los Santos Airbase Bunker
- Cocaine Lab
- Meth Lab
- Weed Farm
- Counterfeit Cash Factory
- Document Forgery Office
- Vehicle Cargo Warehouse
- Special Cargo Warehouse
- Hangar business
One may argue that the Touch Screen at the Nerve Center of the Benefactor Terrorbyte also offers the same functionalities. While it is true, the GTA 5 Online Arcade guide readers should note that the Terrorbyte Touch Screen only allows you to do Steal and Resupply missions for the listed business.
However, the Master Control Terminal grants you access to all the functions that a particular business from the above list has to offer. It basically clones the Nightclub, Disruption Logistics, The Open Road, Free Trade Shipping Co., and SecuroServ networks to your Retro Arcade. You can manage all businesses without visiting them individually.
While the Master Control Terminal is important, the GTA 5 Online Arcade guide advises players to do a rain check before acquiring the Drone Station. The immediate function of the upgrade is to allow you (and up to three other players) to fly drones across the city of Los Santos.
The drones are equipped with a stun gun and an emergency self-destruct feature that helps you to take down enemy players easily. It is an upgrade to practice drone flying. The Grand Theft Auto 5 Online Silent and Sneaky heist mission allows you to use nano drones. If you master the flying skill, you can easily take down the Diamond Casino guards using the drones.
However, since the upgrades cost you an additional $1,460,000, the GTA 5 Online Arcade guide advises you to consider it thoroughly and acquire it only when you think the purchase will be reasonable.
What are the money-making methods in the Retro Arcade business in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online?
There are two ways through which you can make money from the Retro Arcade business in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online:
- Safe Locker
- Diamond Casino Heist
The Safe Locker is available inside the office premises where it stores money directly generated by the business. As mentioned before in the GTA 5 Online Arcade guide, the NPC customers will arrive depending on how many video game machines you have, and the amount they pay for the services will be stored inside the Safe Locker.
The Diamond Casino Heist is the main money-making source for which the Retro Arcade works as a front. As told by Lester Crest, the main purpose of acquiring the property is so that you can plan about looting the Diamond Casino & Resort in its basement.
The Diamond Casino Heist is one of the most complex gameplay Rockstar Games added in Grand Theft Auto 5 Online. Your goal is to infiltrate the vault of the casino and loot whatever precious items are stored in there. However, it is not a solo mission, as you will need at least one more player during the heist finale.
There are three approaches to loot the Diamond Casino & Resort,
- Casino Heist - Silent & Sneaky
- Casino Heist - The Big Con
- Casino Heist - Aggressive
And four loot targets,
- Cash ~ $2.1 million
- Art ~ $2.3 million
- Gold ~ $2.5 million
- Diamonds ~ $3.2 million
Your final payout will be determined based on how much loot you manage to steal from the casino. The GTA 5 Online Arcade guide readers should also note that Rockstar Games added a depreciation mechanism where you lose your earnings if the enemies manage to shoot at your loot bag.
For instance, if you manage to loot cash worth $2.1 million from the Diamond Casino & Resort and the guards or the police shoot your loot bag multiple times, you will visually see notes spilling out of your bag and a decreasing loot value.
Therefore, players should practice the important skills, weapons, and gadgets inside the Retro Arcade itself so that they can escape the Diamond Casino & Resort more efficiently.
Also read: Grand Theft Auto Online beginner’s guide
