# Major Pinball Industry Production Update - Late January 2023 UPDATED **Source:** Knapp Arcade **Type:** article **Published:** 2023-01-27 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.knapparcade.org/major-pinball-industry-production-update-late-january-2023-updated --- ## Analysis Industry production update from late January 2023 covering multiple manufacturers' output and pipeline. Stern is producing James Bond with ongoing code updates; Spooky is ramping Scooby-Doo production; Multimorphic founder discusses P3 module strategy despite backlog; and multiple manufacturers hint at upcoming releases including Pulp Fiction (CGC), potential JJP announcement, and American Pinball's Galactic Tank Force. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Stern Pinball Code version 0.84 for James Bond launched on Tuesday, including several new modes but no multiball stacking yet — _Direct report from Stern Factory Friday video and code release_ - [HIGH] Spooky Pinball expects main production run of Scooby-Doo to begin in two to three weeks at 'decent pace' — _Direct statement from Spooky Pinball, reported with specific timeline_ - [HIGH] Pinball Brothers/Pedretti Gaming early Queen machines being used as beta units to perfect production techniques — _Direct observation of delivered Queen machines in Germany_ - [HIGH] Dutch Pinball has stated desire to finish Early Achiever Lebowski production in 2023 — _Direct statement from Dutch Pinball, reported in production update_ - [MEDIUM] CGC's Pulp Fiction (designed by Mark Ritchie) may be shown at Texas Pinball Festival in March 2023 — _Rumor/hearsay: 'There's talk that CGC's next game... may be shown off at TPF in March'_ - [HIGH] Multimorphic has a one-year backlog but will continue announcing new P3 modules despite ongoing orders — _Direct quote from Gerry Stellenberg on Pinside forum explaining platform philosophy_ - [LOW] Jersey Jack Pinball's next game after Toy Story 4 is coming 'pretty soon' — _Vague statement with explicit caution: 'I have to be careful what I say about the next game'_ - [HIGH] Jurassic Park Home Edition designed by Jack Danger is currently in production at Stern — _Picture shared on Deadflip Facebook page showing production_ ### Notable Quotes > "For a platform machine, it doesn't make any sense [to wait]. That would deny owners the advantages of owning platform. Can you imagine Sony or Nintendo having a big backlog for consoles and saying they wouldn't release any new games until they finished shipping all back-ordered consoles?" > — **Gerry Stellenberg, Multimorphic founder**, Posted on Pinside (date not specified) > _Explains platform economics and strategy: new game modules can release independently of machine backlogs, unlike traditional single-themed manufacturers_ > "Spooky has specifically stated that it believes the main run of Scooby-Doos will begin to run at a 'decent pace' in two to three weeks." > — **Knapp Arcade (reporting Spooky's statement)**, Late January 2023 > _Production timeline confirmation for Scooby-Doo ramp-up_ > "I have to be careful what I say about the next game, but rest assured, it's coming pretty soon." > — **Knapp Arcade (reporting on Jersey Jack Pinball)**, Late January 2023 > _Indicates NDA constraints on unreleased JJP information; teases upcoming announcement_ > "There's a rumor floating around that Spooky may show more video of it during Saturday night's Pinball Awards on The Pinball Network." > — **Knapp Arcade**, Late January 2023 > _Speculative reporting on Scooby-Doo reveal timing_ > "The Queen machines that are being delivered at this point seem to be almost what I would call Beta machines that Pedretti Gaming and Pinball Brothers are using to perfect their production techniques for the game." > — **Knapp Arcade**, Late January 2023 > _Identifies Pedretti Gaming partnership in Queen production refinement phase_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Stern Pinball | company | Producing James Bond in volume; released Code 0.84; also manufacturing Jurassic Park Home Edition for Jack Danger | | James Bond | game | Stern pinball machine in active production; Code version 0.84 released with new modes; multiball stacking planned for future update | | Spooky Pinball | company | Producing Scooby-Doo in early batch of 56 units; plans main production run in 2-3 weeks | | Scooby-Doo | game | Spooky Pinball's new release; 56 early units in production; gameplay reveal planned for late January or early February 2023 | | Pinball Brothers | company | Co-producing Queen with Pedretti Gaming; early units serving as beta for production refinement | | Queen | game | Pinball Brothers/Pedretti Gaming collaboration; early deliveries in beta production phase | | Multimorphic | company | Building P3 platform machines and Weird Al modules; significant backlog but planning new module announcements | | Weird Al's Museum of Natural Hilarity | game | Multimorphic P3 module in production with significant backlog | | Dutch Pinball | company | Producing The Big Lebowski machines at steady pace; aiming to complete Early Achiever production in 2023 | | The Big Lebowski | game | Dutch Pinball machine in steady production; Early Achiever variant completion targeted for 2023 | | Chicago Gaming Company | company | Shipping Cactus Canyon; next game Pulp Fiction (designed by Mark Ritchie) expected to be shown at TPF March 2023 | | Cactus Canyon | game | CGC machine in steady production/shipment | | Pulp Fiction | game | CGC's next game designed by Mark Ritchie; rumored to debut at Texas Pinball Festival in March 2023 | | Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Currently producing Toy Story 4; next game announcement expected soon with NDA restrictions | | Toy Story 4 | game | JJP machine in active production | | American Pinball | company | Shipping Legends of Valhalla and Oktoberfest; Galactic Tank Force (designed by Dennis Nordman, art by Christopher Franchi) rumored next title | | Galactic Tank Force | game | American Pinball's rumored next game; designed by Dennis Nordman with art by Christopher Franchi; possibly showing at TPF | | Haggis Pinball | company | Building and shipping Fathom Revisited machines; limited public visibility in early 2023 | | Fathom Revisited | game | Haggis Pinball machine in production with limited public updates | | Jack Danger | person | Designed Jurassic Park Home Edition for Stern; has Deadflip Facebook page covering pinball industry | | Gerry Stellenberg | person | Multimorphic founder; explained platform economics and strategy for P3 module releases on Pinside | | Pedretti Gaming | company | Collaborating with Pinball Brothers on Queen production refinement | | Mark Ritchie | person | Designer of Pulp Fiction pinball machine for CGC | | Texas Pinball Festival | event | Scheduled for March 2023; expected venue for Pulp Fiction and potentially Galactic Tank Force debuts | ### Topics - **Primary:** Production Status Updates, Code Updates and Patches, Upcoming Game Announcements - **Secondary:** Manufacturing and Supply Chain, Platform vs Single-Machine Economics, Backlog Management - **Mentioned:** Designer Transitions ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.75) — Industry showing strong production momentum across multiple manufacturers with steady shipments and new releases in pipeline. Tone is upbeat and forward-looking. No major controversies or negative issues reported. Some cautious language around JJP next title (NDA) and speculation about timing. ### Signals - **[event_signal]** Texas Pinball Festival (March 2023) positioned as major reveal venue for multiple manufacturers' next games (confidence: medium) — CGC's Pulp Fiction and American Pinball's Galactic Tank Force both rumored/expected to show at TPF in March - **[market_signal]** Multimorphic explicitly embracing one-year backlog as sustainable and normal for industry, contrasting with single-machine manufacturer model (confidence: high) — Gerry Stellenberg statement comparing to console platforms and explaining why module releases can proceed independently of hardware backlog - **[personnel_signal]** Christopher Franchi providing art direction for American Pinball's Galactic Tank Force (designed by Dennis Nordman) (confidence: medium) — Referenced as 'Galactic Tank Force, designed by Dennis Nordman with art by Christopher Franchi' - **[product_strategy]** Cactus Canyon production ongoing with customer flow slower than desired, potentially delaying CGC's next title (Pulp Fiction) (confidence: medium) — 'A constant flow of customers have been showing off their new Cactus Canyons... though I'm sure not as quickly as they or CGC would like' - **[product_concern]** Queen early production units explicitly characterized as 'beta machines' used for production technique refinement, suggesting ongoing quality/manufacturing issues during ramp-up phase (confidence: high) — Direct statement: 'The Queen machines that are being delivered at this point seem to be almost what I would call Beta machines that Pedretti Gaming and Pinball Brothers are using to perfect their production techniques' - **[product_strategy]** James Bond multiball stacking feature planned for future code update; not yet implemented in version 0.84 (confidence: high) — 'The code on James Bond continues to progress... included several new modes, but no multi-ball stacking yet. Stern is hoping to enable multi-balls to be stacked with modes in its next update.' - **[rumor_hype]** Speculation about potential gameplay reveal venues and timing for Scooby-Doo, with multiple possible dates mentioned (confidence: low) — 'There's a rumor floating around that Spooky may show more video of it during Saturday night's Pinball Awards... If that doesn't happen, look for the company to do a stream... on Monday or Tuesday. Perhaps both?' --- ## Transcript Happy Friday everyone! Today, Stern Pinball finally showed us a glimpse of its newest machine, James Bond, on the assembly line. Stern's regular Factory Friday video showed them cranking out tons of James Bond Pros. In addition to machines flying out the door, the code on James Bond continues to progress. On Tuesday, Stern launched Code version 0.84 for the game. It included several new modes, but no multiball stacking yet. Stern is hoping to enable multi-balls to be stacked with modes in its next update. See below for pics & video of Bonds being produced. In addition to James Bond, Jack Danger's Deadflip Facebook page shared a picture of the Jurassic Park Home Edition that he designed being produced at Stern this week (see below). In other production news, Pinball Brothers' continues to slowly produce units of its new game Queen. The Queen machines that are being delivered at this point seem to be almost what I would call Beta machines that Pedretti Gaming and Pinball Brothers are using to perfect their production techniques for the game. Below are pictures of a just delivered Queen machine that is appearing on location in Germany at a place called Multiball - Kicker Flipper Dart und Billard for the public to play this weekend. Spooky Pinball continues to build the early run of its new Scooby-Doo pinball machine. Fifty-six games are currently in various stages of being built. Typically Spooky produces a batch of early games that it and others play for a couple of weeks to make sure all of the kinks are worked out before the big production push begins. Spooky has specifically stated that it believes the main run of Scooby-Doos will begin to run at a "decent pace" in two to three weeks. Spooky recently confirmed that it is still on track to show more gameplay of the machine in January. Given the fact that today is the 27th, it has to be happening soon :). There is a rumor floating around that Spooky may show more video of it during Saturday night's Pinball Awards on The Pinball Network. If that doesn't happen, look for the company to do a stream of it, possibly on Deadflip's Twitch channel, on Monday or Tuesday. Perhaps both? UPDATE: Several minutes ago Spooky shared a pic of Scooby-Doo surrounded by camera equipment, so it looks like a stream is imminent (pic below). Multimorphic continues to build new P3 machines and Weird Al's Museum of Natural Hilarity modules. There's still a significant backlog for both, however that does not necessarily mean that the Company won't introduce a new game soon. Multimorphic's founder, Gerry Stellenberg recently had the following to say on the subject over on Pinside: "For traditional (single-themed) machines, it usually makes sense to finish shipping previous machine orders before announcing a new title (though some announce prior to that anyway). For a platform machine, it doesn't make any sense. That would deny owners the advantages of a owning platform. Can you imagine Sony or Nintendo having a big backlog for consoles and saying they wouldn't release any new games until they finished shipping all back-ordered consoles? That would punish existing console owners. We're interested in the opposite... ensuring that all P3 owners continue to have access to new games and features regardless of how many people are lined up to get their own P3s (and eventually the exact same loyalty and attention from us). That's not say to we aren't also going to continue increasing our MFG capabilities to keep the build queue reasonable even as interest continues to rise. We are. A 1-year backlog is pretty reasonable in this industry. Many machines from many pinball manufacturers have build queues longer than that. At least with us, you know that up front, and anybody interested can get in the queue now and shrink the time between new game announcements and delivery of their machine. ... and when we show off new games, a lot of people are going to wish they had. Then, when we announce future titles, a new batch of people will be lamenting the wait and wishing they'd already gotten in line today while all of you are enjoying each new game." So it certainly sounds as though we will see a new P3 module in the not so distant future. Dutch Pinball continues to produce Big Lebowski machines at a steady pace. Earlier this week, a Facebook page called Pinballdreams Belgium shared pictures of Dutch Pinball's factory (see below). Dutch still has quite a few Lebowskis to produce. They have stated that they have a "(very) great desire" to finish production of the outstanding Early Achiever Lebowski games in 2023. I'm hearing rumblings about a possible next game. Chicago Gaming Company (CGC) continues to ship out Cactus Canyons at a steady pace. A constant flow of customers have been showing off their new Cactus Canyons on Pinside, though I'm sure not as quickly as they or CGC would like. There's talk that CGC's next game, a single-level Pulp Fiction machine designed by Mark Ritchie, may be shown off at the Texas Pinball Festival (TPF) in March. I heard that the game was done a while ago, so as long as Cactus Canyon production continues the launch of the next game should be relatively soon. Jersey Jack Pinball continues to produce Toy Story 4 machines (see pic below). I have to be careful what I say about the next game, but rest assured, it's coming pretty soon. I'm assuming that Haggis Pinball continues to build and ship its Fathom Revisited machines, but I haven't seen many pictures of unboxings lately. Things have been very quiet over at American Pinball as well. I've seen posts that the company continues to ship Legends of Valhalla and Oktoberfest machines, but nothing specific about its rumored next machine, Galactic Tank Force, designed by Dennis Nordman with art by Christopher Franchi. One would think that the game will be also shown off at TPF. That should be about everyone. If I missed anybody, let me know. Have a great weekend! Stern Pinball: Pinball Brothers: Jersey Jack Pinball: Dutch Pinball: Spooky Pinball: _(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: b06a438b-aa76-43fa-99f7-c94f7597b4a8*