With Park Avenue Open Day bringing far-flung members of the UK industry right to UDC’s doorstep, the distributor made the most of the opportunity by showcasing a wealth of brand new machines. Head of creative Matt Bland guided Coinslot through the innovative titles on display, the positive response from operators, and his hopes for the sector this year.

With Park Avenue Open Day bringing movers and shakers from across the UK industry to north London, UDC made sure they didn’t go wanting for new products, with the supplier showcasing a staggering display of innovative and exciting new game mechanics.

From the eye-catching Popeye Dizzy Divers two-player pusher to a host of machines from Playmore, UDC offered attendees a feast of options to captivate players, with head of creative Matt Bland guiding Coinslot through the impressive range.

“We showed a number of new pieces which haven’t been seen before,” said Bland. “We’ve got the Popeye Dizzy Divers pusher, two-player, that’s new for 2025 from Benchmark, part of the Elaut group. We didn’t show it at EAG, we’re only showing it here for the first time.”

“Then there are a selection of new games by Playmore, from the same people who made Tornado, and the Shockwave and Pearl Fishery. We’re testing these in the market to see which ones are going to be going forward for 2026.”

The new Playmore range included Dragon Knight, Demon Tower, Galaxy Hunter and Dragon Blade, and was displayed alongside the Elaut group’s new Smurfs two player pusher, which looks set to benefit from the major publicity drive around this year’s Smurfs Movie sequel.

“I like to think of Park Avenue Open Day as the start of the summer for the industry, after this it’s all systems go for the operators,” said Bland. “We’ve heard good things from people about the beginning of the year, it’d be very easy for people to be pessimistic and go on about the economy but actually I haven’t heard much in the way of complaints. All being well, they’ll have a good summer.”

“When the economy’s tough and people aren’t going on holiday to Crete and Barbados, they’ll go to Brighton or Skegness, Great Yarmouth, Blackpool. Even if you’re going for a day out or a weekend away, when things are tight the British seaside is still very popular.”

Though he acknowledged that operators are now “working harder to earn the same amount of money they were earning five, ten years ago,” Bland added customers are still keen on investing in machines.

“If you go round the top arcades in the country they’re full of new equipment because you have to stay up to date, if somebody walks in a place and it’s tired, you get the vibe. You think ‘we’ll try somewhere else.’ That’s why we go around the world trying to find the best product for them.”