# Update on Dutch Pinball Exclusive Situation; Spooky Pinball Ships Last Evil Dead; Winchester Mystery House at More Locations

**Source:** Knapp Arcade  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2026-02-11  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.knapparcade.org/blog/update-on-dutch-pinball-exclusive-situation-spooky-pinball-ships-last-evil-dead-winchester-mystery-house-at-more-locations

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## Analysis

Dutch Pinball parts ways with Melvin Brouwer-Williams and dissolves DPX sub-brand; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland production continues under Melvin's independent code team while Back to the Future remains in development. Spooky Pinball ships final Evil Dead unit and pivots focus to Beetlejuice production. Barrels of Fun expands Winchester Mystery House location availability across California, Minnesota, and Florida.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Melvin Brouwer-Williams and Dutch Pinball have parted ways effective immediately — _Announced by Melvin on Pinside and confirmed in distributor message from Dutch Pinball; reported by Knapp Arcade (knapparcade.com) on Feb 10, 2026_
- [HIGH] Dutch Pinball Exclusive (DPX) sub-brand is dissolved; no longer operating — _Official statement from Dutch Pinball distributor communication; Knapp Arcade article_
- [HIGH] Alice's Adventures in Wonderland production will continue; all ordered units will be built — _Confirmed by Cointaker (Dutch Pinball's largest US distributor); Melvin's official statement in article_
- [HIGH] Melvin's independent code team (not contracted by Dutch Pinball) will continue Alice code updates — _Melvin's direct statement: 'Coding on Alice was done by my own team that where not contracted by DP'_
- [MEDIUM] Back to the Future remains in development despite DPX dissolution and speculation — _Knapp Arcade reporting: 'As far as I can tell, that is NOT the case. Back to the Future still seems to be in the works'_
- [MEDIUM] Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (RAZA) by John Popadiuk/Deeproot was nearly complete at design stage — _Knapp Arcade: 'Supposedly Melvin was almost completely done with the game's design'_
- [HIGH] Spooky Pinball has finished manufacturing and shipped the final Evil Dead unit — _Official Spooky Pinball announcement via social media; quoted in article_
- [HIGH] Winchester Mystery House playable at three locations: Winchester Mystery House gift shop (San Jose), LITT Pinball Bar (Minneapolis), Pinsomniacs Pinball (Jacksonville) — _Barrels of Fun distribution updates reported by Knapp Arcade_

### Notable Quotes

> "As I stated before, I WILL not abandon Alice. Code updates will continue, Coding on Alice was done by my own team that where not contracted by DP."
> — **Melvin Brouwer-Williams**, Statement included in Feb 10, 2026 article
> _Directly addresses continuity concerns for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland after DPX dissolution; confirms independent code team structure_

> "Because you are looking at the very last Evil Dead go into a box 📦 Holy cow, what a game to be done with. She was a beast!! And we had a great time building it for the last year."
> — **Spooky Pinball (social media announcement)**, Announced afternoon of Feb 10, 2026
> _Marks completion of Evil Dead production run; signals manufacturing capability shift to Beetlejuice_

> "I personally think that it is a major mistake for a company that has a history of not communicating well with customers to not issue an official public statement on what is happening, but that's their choice."
> — **Knapp Arcade (reporter/analyst)**, Feb 10, 2026 article
> _Criticism of Dutch Pinball communication practices; reflects industry concern about transparency_

> "Dutch Pinball is committed to building all of the ordered Alice games that have been ordered. Additionally, individual distributors are processing refunds for customers who decided to cancel their order when DPX missed its year-end 2025 deadline for getting games out."
> — **Knapp Arcade (reporting from Cointaker/Dutch Pinball statements)**, Feb 10, 2026
> _Clarifies Alice production commitment and refund process; addresses customer concerns post-deadline miss_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Dutch Pinball | company | Netherlands-based boutique pinball manufacturer; undergoing restructuring with new investors; dissolved DPX sub-brand; retaining Back to the Future in development |
| Melvin Brouwer-Williams | person | Founder/lead of Dutch Pinball Exclusive (DPX); departed Dutch Pinball; leading independent code development team for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; seeking US manufacturer for RAZA |
| Barry Driessen | person | Co-founder/operator of Dutch Pinball; retained equity ownership after restructuring and investor onboarding |
| Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | game | John Popadiuk-designed game produced under DPX; production continues post-dissolution; code updates continue via Melvin's independent team; missed year-end 2025 deadline |
| Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (RAZA) | game | John Popadiuk/Deeproot-designed DPX second game; nearly complete at design stage; seeking US manufacturer partnership to avoid tariff impact |
| Back to the Future | game | Dutch Pinball flagship title; expected late 2026; confirmed to remain in development despite DPX dissolution |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; completed Evil Dead production; transitioning manufacturing focus to Beetlejuice |
| Evil Dead | game | Spooky Pinball game; manufacturing run completed as of Feb 10, 2026; final unit shipped |
| Beetlejuice | game | Spooky Pinball's latest game; currently in production/fulfillment phase; units shipped from Pinball at the Beach event |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; producing Winchester Mystery House; expanding location availability |
| Winchester Mystery House | game | Barrels of Fun game based on Winchester Mystery House California location; playable at Winchester gift shop, LITT Pinball Bar (Minneapolis), Pinsomniacs Pinball (Jacksonville) |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Bally/Williams license holder; producing Medieval Madness Merlin Edition remake; new production run orders opening |
| Medieval Madness Merlin Edition | game | Chicago Gaming Company remake using Bally/Williams license; new production run orders announced Feb 10, 2026 |
| Cointaker | company | Dutch Pinball's largest US distributor; confirmed Alice production continuation; processing refunds for cancelled orders |
| Planetary Pinball | company | Distributor; rightsholder for Bally/Williams; largest allocation for Medieval Madness Merlin Edition |
| Church Arcade | venue | Arcade venue in Duquesne, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh; hosting PinBrew 2026 (April 10-12) after show relocation from Ohio |
| PinBrew 2026 | event | Pinball show and tournament; relocated from Eastern Ohio to Duquesne, Pennsylvania; April 10-12 dates; founders retired but event continuing |
| John Popadiuk | person | Pinball designer; designed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (DPX production) and RAZA (with Deeproot) |
| Deeproot Pinball | company | Co-designer of RAZA with John Popadiuk |
| Knapp Arcade | company | Pinball news outlet/blog reporting on industry news |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Dutch Pinball organizational restructuring and DPX dissolution, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland production and code update continuity, Spooky Pinball Evil Dead completion and Beetlejuice production transition
- **Secondary:** Barrels of Fun Winchester Mystery House location expansion, Chicago Gaming Company Medieval Madness Merlin Edition production run announcement, PinBrew event relocation and continuation under new management, Melvin Brouwer-Williams searching for US manufacturer for RAZA to avoid tariff impact
- **Mentioned:** Dutch Pinball communication transparency concerns

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Positive developments for Spooky (Evil Dead completion) and Barrels (Winchester expansion); significant organizational turbulence at Dutch Pinball with DPX dissolution balanced by commitments to Alice and Back to the Future continuity. Community concern about Dutch Pinball's communication and RAZA's uncertain future. PinBrew relocation viewed as necessary but bittersweet.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Dutch Pinball brings on new investors to strengthen financial and strategic position; Barry Driessen retains equity ownership (confidence: high) — Dutch Pinball distributor message confirming new investor onboarding and equity retention
- **[community_signal]** Dutch Pinball's lack of official public statement on DPX dissolution criticized; history of poor customer communication flagged as concern (confidence: high) — Knapp Arcade reporter directly criticizes Dutch Pinball's communication approach: 'a company that has a history of not communicating well with customers to not issue an official public statement'
- **[event_signal]** PinBrew show relocates from Eastern Ohio to Duquesne, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh); original founders retired; event continuing under new management (confidence: high) — Official PinBrew statement confirming April 10-12 dates at Church Arcade in Pennsylvania; founder retirement noted
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Spooky Pinball completes final Evil Dead production unit; manufacturing focus pivots to Beetlejuice fulfillment (confidence: high) — Official Spooky Pinball social media announcement: 'you are looking at the very last Evil Dead go into a box'
- **[market_signal]** Chicago Gaming Company Medieval Madness Merlin Edition new production run orders opening; Planetary Pinball has largest allocation (confidence: high) — Distributor announcements including Planetary Pinball statement on order availability
- **[personnel_signal]** Melvin Brouwer-Williams departure from Dutch Pinball; dissolution of DPX sub-brand; retained independent code team for Alice (confidence: high) — Official announcements from Melvin on Pinside and Dutch Pinball distributor communication; Melvin's direct statement about independent code team
- **[product_strategy]** Alice's Adventures in Wonderland missed year-end 2025 deadline; customer refunds being processed for cancellations (confidence: high) — Cointaker confirmation that distributors are processing refunds for cancelled orders due to missed deadline
- **[product_strategy]** Back to the Future remains in development despite DPX dissolution; Dutch committed to 'original titles'; RAZA seeks alternative US manufacturer (confidence: medium) — Knapp Arcade analysis: 'Back to the Future still seems to be in the works'; RAZA status: 'almost completely done with the game's design' and seeking US partner
- **[technology_signal]** Tariff impact on European-manufactured pinball machines driving RAZA search for US manufacturing partnership (confidence: high) — Knapp Arcade reporting: Melvin 'looking for another company to manufacture the game, ideally one in the United States to avoid the tariffs that European games are saddled with'

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## Transcript

News

Update on Dutch Pinball Exclusive Situation; Spooky Pinball Ships Last Evil Dead; Winchester Mystery House at More Locations

k

knapparcade

February 10, 2026

Let's start today's article off with an update on the Dutch Pinball Exclusive situation. As I reported mid-Super Bowl Party on Sunday night lol, Melvin Brouwer-Williams and Dutch Pinball have decided to part ways. First and foremost, that means that Dutch Pinball's sub-brand Dutch Pinball Exclusive (DPX) is no more.

This news was originally announced by Melvin in a post on Pinside and it was confirmed this morning in a message sent by Dutch Pinball to distributors. According to this morning's message, Dutch has brought two new investors on board to strengthen it financially and strategically. Barry Driessen has retained equity ownership of the company. Dutch is now committed to refocusing on creating its own games. The way Dutch worded this statement in its letter, saying that it was focusing on creating its own "original titles" lead to some speculation out there that they were going to create unlicensed games and that the long-rumored Dutch Pinball game two Back to the Future isn't happening. As far as I can tell, that is NOT the case. Back to the Future still seems to be in the works.

So what does this news mean for people who have ordered DPX's first game, a production version of John Popadiuk's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland? I reached out to Dutch Pinball's largest distributor in the United States this morning, Cointaker, to find out. In short, Alice is business as usual. Dutch Pinball is committed to building all of the ordered Alice games that have been ordered. Additionally, individual distributors are processing refunds for customers who decided to cancel their order when DPX missed its year-end 2025 deadline for getting games out. Melvin and a team of coders that he organized for the game will continue to update Alice's code, though naturally there may be a little delay. Below is his official statement on the subject:

" Hello all !

As I stated before, I WILL not abandon Alice.

Code updates will continue, Coding on Alice was done by my own team that where not contracted by DP. I stated that I could be slower at times due to reorganization and figuring out a way to see how we can set this up.

But AAIW is alive and we continue moving forward. That’s what you all deserve.

Thank you.'

Dutch stated that it will provide an update on Alice in Wonderland topper production in a couple of days and that it will provide an update on upcoming new projects in a couple of months.

The breakup of Dutch Pinball and DPX is disappointing for fans of its announced second game, the John Popadiuk and Deeproot Pinball-designed Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland aka RAZA. Supposedly Melvin was almost completely done with the game's design. According to a statement by DPX's three distributors, Melvin is committed to remaining in pinball. At this point he is looking for another company to manufacture the game, ideally one in the United States to avoid the tariffs that European games are saddled with when sold in the World's largest pinball market.

I reached out to Dutch Pinball yesterday for a comment on the situation, but as of this writing I have not heard back. I personally think that it is a major mistake for a company that has a history of not communicating well with customers to not issue an official public statement on what is happening, but that's their choice.

That's the latest info for everyone. I will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates when I have any.

This afternoon, Spooky Pinball announced an excising milestone on social media. It has boxed up and shipped the final Evil Dead game. Spooky Pinball now can focus all of its efforts to getting its latest game, Beetlejuice into customers' hands. Several of the machines that were at last weekend's Pinball at the Beach show have already gone home with customers.

" Why is this video exciting??

Because you are looking at the very last Evil Dead go into a box 📦

Holy cow, what a game to be done with. She was a beast!! And we had a great time building it for the last year.

We'll do a big emotional post or video about this later, right now we're too busy working on the Beetle guy!

#spookypinball #pinball #pinballmachine #evildead"

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This afternoon, several distributors, including Planetary Pinball stated that orders are now officially being taken for the next run of Chicago Gaming Company's Medieval Madness Merlin Edition. As the rightsholder for Bally / Williams, Planetary has the largest allocation of these games.

Barrels of Fun Pinball continues to build and ship its newest game Winchester Mystery House. A machine is now available to play at the Mystery House itself in San Jose, California. They recently shared a quick video and pictures of it in its gift shop. It's set up and ready for visitors to play at a dollar per game.

In addition to the Mystery House, Winchester is now also available to play on location at LITT Pinball Bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Pinsomniacs Pinball in Jacksonville, Florida.

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Last up, I have news about the popular Ohio pinball show Pinbrew. The show's founders have retired, but the event will continue. This year's event will be held at the Church Arcade in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. Coincidentally I just visited that arcade last weekend. It was a great time. Kudos to those folks for keeping a great show alive. Below is the official statement on this year's event:

" PinBrew 2026 is happening! But it will be a bit different than in years past. While it will still have plenty of tasty local microbrews and killer pinball games and competitive tournaments, it is switching to a new location. PinBrew 2026 will happen April 10-12 at the Church Arcade just outside of Pittsburgh PA. While moving out of eastern Ohio and into nearby Western Pennsylvania was not a decision taken lightly, it was necessary to keep PinBrew afloat. We hope you will join us in this new location.

If you aren’t familiar with The Church Arcade, it’s a massive arcade space inside a retired church in Duquesne PA, near Pittsburgh’s renowned Kennywood park. It’s a venue unlike any other you have ever played in before - vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows, and repurposed altars and confessionals.

Mark your calendars now for April 10-12. And keep an eye out for more details and ticket information coming soon. www.PinBrewFest.com and www.TheChurchArcade.com."

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 9e1623bd-3bea-4eb8-a34a-cc03b4df8e36*