A cashless play system for arcade games at retail locations of a company utilizes a card reader to read patron account information. The card reader sends the patron account information to a game play server and receives game play authorization information based on the patron account information and patron data stored in a patron database. The card reader activates the arcade game based on the game play authorization information and causes game play data to be stored in a game play database. Further, the game play server uploads game play data to a remote server, at a geographic location other than the geographic location of the retail location, and downloads game play server updates.