Stern & Farsight in Partnership Deal

Pinball News Website·article·analyzed·Sep 26, 2015

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

Stern Pinball partners with FarSight Studios to create official digital Stern Pinball Arcade platform

Summary

Stern Pinball and FarSight Studios announced an expanded partnership on September 22, 2015, to create the Stern Pinball Arcade, a digital platform featuring official virtual recreations of Stern's pinball machines. The partnership addresses Stern's historical reluctance to digitize their titles by leveraging FarSight's proven track record with The Pinball Arcade (12+ million downloads) and recognizing digital games as a gateway to attract new players to physical pinball. The deal simplifies licensing complexity for both new and legacy Stern titles.

Key Claims

FarSight's Pinball Arcade has been downloaded over 12 million times across mobile, console and PC platforms
high confidence · Official Stern Pinball press release quoted in article (September 22, 2015)
Stern previously had a 'gentlemen's agreement' with Visual/Future Pinball developers preventing Stern tables from being created in digital form until three years after production ended
high confidence · Article states this as established industry practice, attributed to Stern's position
Gary Stern said the company wouldn't help create digital versions of Stern titles because it would reduce sales of physical games or reduce income from operated machines
high confidence · Article attributes this directly to Gary Stern's previous statements
Stern's Vault Edition range reserve the right to re-run older titles at any point, which made the three-year digital exclusion agreement harder to abide by
high confidence · Article explains this as context for policy shift
The Pinball Arcade has over one million active players each month
high confidence · Official FarSight Studios statement in press release

Notable Quotes

“At Stern, we're always looking for new ways to excite our existing fans and gain new ones. Expanding our partnership with FarSight Studios is helping us do just that.”
Gary Stern, CEO of Stern Pinball @ September 22, 2015 press release — Frames partnership as growth strategy for both existing and new audiences
“Anyone in the gaming world knows Stern Pinball, which is why we are so pleased about the renewal and expansion of this partnership.”
Jay Obernolte, CEO of FarSight Studios @ September 22, 2015 press release — Emphasizes mutual brand recognition and commitment to expanded collaboration
“While digital pinball is never going to be the same as playing the physical game, it's often inconvenient to take a 250lb pinball machine with you on every journey”
Article author @ September 26, 2015 — Articulates the functional rationale for digital pinball as complementary, not competitive

Entities

Stern PinballcompanyFarSight StudioscompanyGary SternpersonJay ObernoltepersonThe Pinball ArcadeproductStern Pinball ArcadeproductVault EditionproductVisual PinballproductFuture Pinballproduct

Signals

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business_signal: Historical tension between digital and physical pinball sales addressed through partnership; article explicitly notes Stern's previous concern that digital versions would cannibalize physical game sales
high · Article: 'The big worry has always been that creating a digital version of a production pinball will reduce sales of the physical game' attributed to Gary Stern's historical position
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business_signal: Major partnership expansion between Stern and FarSight representing formal shift in Stern's digital strategy after years of resistance
high · Official September 22, 2015 press release announcing 'new expanded partnership' combined with article noting Gary Stern's historical opposition and recent softening of position
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licensing_signal: Digital rights licensing strategy shift: Stern will negotiate digital rights simultaneously with physical rights for new titles, simplifying acquisition process
high · Article states 'the process should be simplified for new titles by negotiating the digital pinball rights at the same time as those for the physical pinball'
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market_signal: FarSight's Pinball Arcade's commercial success (12M+ downloads, 1M+ monthly active) validating digital pinball's viability as player acquisition channel
high · Official press release citing Pinball Arcade metrics; article frames this success as driving Stern's reconsideration of digitization strategy
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business_signal: Stern's Vault Edition policy (right to re-run old titles anytime) undermined previous three-year digital exclusion gentlemen's agreement with community developers

Topics

Digital pinball licensing and partnershipsprimaryStern's business strategy for new player acquisitionprimaryDigital pinball as gateway to physical pinballprimaryHistory of digital pinball recreation (emulation and simulation)secondaryIntellectual property licensing complexity in pinballsecondaryFarSight Studios' market success and track recordsecondaryStern's historical reluctance to digitize titlesmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Article presents partnership as mutually beneficial strategic expansion. Tone is optimistic about digital pinball's role in introducing new players. Historical concerns about cannibalization are acknowledged but framed as overcome through FarSight's proven success model.

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

Date: 26th September 2015 Playing digital pinball games on tablets, phone and desktop computers has long been seen as a valuable tool in introducing the next generation of players to the game. Now Stern Pinball has recognised this 'gateway' into playing the real thing through a partnership with FarSight Studios. Digital pinball games, in one form or another, have been popular on desktops and consoles almost from the start of the home computer games craze. Atari's Arcade Pinball from 1980 may seem laughably simplistic these days, but that didn't stop it being re-released for the Xbox 360 in 2010. Meanwhile the inclusion of Maxis' Space Cadet game with Windows 95 and XP did more to put digital pinball in people's homes and offices than any standalone release. While digital pinball is never going to be the same as playing the physical game, it's often inconvenient to take a 250lb pinball machine with you on every journey, while monetary and space restriction puts owning hundreds of machines out of the reach of most of us. But digital pinball is no longer the poor relation to playing the physical equivalent. Ever since Visual Pinball was released in 2000, hundreds of original designs have been created and published. Future Pinball came along five years later, taking advantage of processing and rendering advances to produce much more realistic-looking games. At various points along the way, digital pinball and physical pinball touched flippers. The Nightmare table - one of four in the Pinball Dreams release for the Amiga in 1992 - was a shameless copy of Terminator 2, while the Billion Dollar Gameshow gives more than a passing nod to The Bally Game Show. It took until 2001 before a licensed digital copy of a physical machine became mainstream, with release of Encore Software's Williams Pinball Classics, which even managed to include a licensed title - Creature from the Black Lagoon - alongside the original Lost World, Black Rose and Tales of the Arabian Nights tables. Since then, licensing physical game titles for emulation has become, if not exactly big business, certainly a reasonable business model for game developers. FarSight Studios' Pinball Hall of Fame started with Gottlieb tables in 2004, before moving on to Williams' titles four years later. But their most successful strand has been The Pinball Arcade which began in 2012. From the very start they had a tie-up with Stern Pinball, including Ripley's Believe It Or Not! amongst their first four tables. Since then they have also recreated High Roller Casino, the classic Stern title Flight 2000, and Starship Troopers which was made by Stern's forerunner Sega Pinball. FarSight have released most of the 'A-list' Williams/Bally titles, utilising Kickstarter funding where necessary to pay for the more expensive licences such as Twilight Zone and Star Trek: The Next generation. There is also talk of Stern's The Simpsons Pinball Party being their next Kickstarter-funded title. So it makes sense for FarSight to turn their sights on Stern's portfolio of pinball titles, and for Stern to try to leverage those assets. The big worry has always been that creating a digital version of a production pinball will reduce sales of the physical game, or reduce income from operated machines. Gary Stern has said several times that the company wouldn't help create digital versions of his titles for that very reason, and there has been a 'gentlemen's agreement' between Stern and Visual/Future Pinball game developers that no Stern tables would be created in digital form until three years after production of the game ended. However, with Stern developing their Vault Edition range, where they reserve the right to re-run any of their older titles at any point, that agreement has become harder to abide by. There has also been a softening of Stern's position over the past few years as the potential of mobile gaming to bring new players - and buyers - into pinball has been acknowledged. Now FarSight Studios have formed a partnership with Stern Pinball which will form the Stern Pinball Arcade series, where Stern's licensed titles will be recreated by FarSight in official digital form. Using a licensed theme for digital tables has always been problematic, but the process should be simplified for new titles by negotiating the digital pinball rights at the same time as those for the physical pinball. For older titles, teaming up with the current or previous physical rights holder should also help smooth the acquisition of those same rights and assets for the digital game. Here's how Stern announced the partnership: Stern Pinball Announces New Expanded Partnership with Digital Game Developer FarSight Studios World’s Leading Maker of Arcade Quality Pinball Games Teams Up With Digital Pinball Wizards to Connect the Real and Virtual Worlds ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL – September 22, 2015 – Stern Pinball, Inc., the world's oldest and largest producer of arcade-quality pinball games, announced a new expanded partnership with FarSight Studios, a developer and publisher of multi-platform digital games including The Pinball Arcade. FarSight will develop a new digital platform called the Stern Pinball Arcade that will feature exact virtual replicas of Stern Pinball’s hottest terrestrial pinball machines. FarSight Studios has been developing top videogame products across platforms for more than two decades. From movie licensed strategy games and hardcore sports titles to edutainment games for kids and mass-market software. Over the years, FarSight has developed many best-selling franchises, such as Game Party, Sega Sports’ NFL games for the Genesis, NCAA college football games for EA, Backyard Sports for Atari, PlayTV for Radica/Mattel and the Pinball Hall of Fame for Crave. “At Stern, we’re always looking for new ways to excite our existing fans and gain new ones,” said Gary Stern, CEO of Stern Pinball. “Expanding our partnership with FarSight Studios is helping us do just that. Both gamers and pinball enthusiasts of all stripes and abilities will love the new products we create together.” “Anyone in the gaming world knows Stern Pinball, which is why we are so pleased about the renewal and expansion of this partnership,” said Jay Obernolte, CEO of FarSight Studios. “We always want to be offering our customers more and we think our fans will love the pinball titles that Stern has to offer.” Pricing and Availability Availability of the new products and pricing will be announced later this fall. To learn more about the partnership please visit www.SternPinball.com. About Stern Pinball, Inc. Stern Pinball, Inc., headquartered just outside Chicago, Illinois, is the oldest and largest producer of arcade-quality pinball games in the world. Stern’s highly talented creative and technical teams design, engineer and manufacture a full line of popular pinball games, merchandise and accessories. Recent Stern titles include KISS, WWE WrestleMania, The Walking Dead, Mustang, Star Trek, Metallica, The Avengers, X-Men, AC/DC, Tron, Transformers, Avatar, Iron Man, Batman, Spiderman and many more! All of Stern’s pinball games are crafted by hand and assembled by Stern’s expert team. A broad range of players enjoy Stern’s games from professional pinball players that compete in high-stakes international competitions around the globe to novice players who are discovering the allure of the silver ball for the first time. To join the fun and learn more, please visit www.SternPinball.com. About FarSight Studios FarSight Studios started developing pinball video games in 2004 with the critically acclaimed Pinball Hall of Fame games. G4TV awarded Best Mobile Game of 2012 to FarSight’s Pinball Arcade. Pinball Arcade features exact recreations of the all-time greatest pinball tables from Williams®, Bally®, Stern Pinball®, and Gottlieb® together in one game with a new table added each month. Pinball Arcade has been downloaded over 12 million times across mobile, console and PC platforms, and has over one million active players each month. Check out FarSight Studios and The Pinball Arcade for more details. Back to the News page Like this page? Share it with your Facebook friends: Back to the front page