American Pinball is Not Currently Working on Wrath of Olympus + Big Trouble in Little China VP

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Feb 6, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.016

TL;DR

AP abandoned Wrath of Olympus trademark; community created BTILC VP using the layout.

Summary

American Pinball is not currently pursuing Wrath of Olympus, a small-run pinball machine originally by Riot! Pinball, despite registering a trademark in January 2021. The company allowed the trademark to expire in May 2022, following a pattern of similar abandoned trademark filings (Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, Valkyries, Poker Run). A virtual pinball adaptation combining the Wrath of Olympus layout with Big Trouble in Little China artwork has been created by the community.

Key Claims

American Pinball registered a trademark for Wrath of Olympus pinball in January 2021
high confidence · Article states this as factual with specific date
American Pinball allowed the Wrath of Olympus trademark to expire in May 2022
high confidence · Article provides specific expiration date and characterizes this as allowing it to lapse
American Pinball manufactured a significant number of Riot! Pinball's Legends of Valhalla games
high confidence · Article explicitly states this as context for why Wrath of Olympus rumors made sense
American Pinball has filed and allowed to expire trademarks for Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, Valkyries, and Poker Run (which became Hot Wheels)
medium confidence · Article lists these as examples of similar abandoned trademark filings
A community member created a Big Trouble in Little China virtual pinball table using the Wrath of Olympus layout
medium confidence · Article references this creation and credits Steve New for the heads up, but doesn't provide extensive detail

Notable Quotes

“There's been rumors on and off over the years that American Pinball (AP) was going to produce the well-known small run pinball machine by Riot! Pinball called Wrath of Olympus (WOOLY).”
Knapp Arcade (author) — Sets up the article's main claim about abandoned AP plans for the game
“American Pinball actually registered for a trademark for Wrath of Olympus pinball in January 2021.”
Knapp Arcade (author) — Key evidence that AP showed serious initial interest in the property
“From that, one could logically conclude that we won't see Wrath of Olympus from AP anytime soon.”
Knapp Arcade (author) — Author's interpretation of what the expired trademark means for future AP releases

Entities

American Pinballcompany Wrath of OlympusgameRiot! PinballcompanyLegends of Valhallagame Big Trouble in Little ChinagameSteve NewpersonKnapp Arcadeorganization Hot Wheelsgame

Signals

?
business_signal: American Pinball pattern of filing trademarks for game themes (Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, Valkyries, Poker Run, Wrath of Olympus) but allowing them to expire without development, suggesting either exploratory IP prospecting or abandoned development cycles
high · Article explicitly lists multiple trademark filings that were allowed to expire: Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, Valkyries, Poker Run (became Hot Wheels), and Wrath of Olympus (expired May 2022)
?
community_signal: Virtual pinball community creating original adaptations by combining existing layouts (Wrath of Olympus) with different IP themes (Big Trouble in Little China) and custom artwork
high · Community member created Big Trouble in Little China VP table using Wrath of Olympus layout with custom art
?
rumor_hype: Long-standing community rumors that American Pinball would manufacture Wrath of Olympus based on their prior relationship with Riot! Pinball and Legends of Valhalla production
medium · Article opens with 'There's been rumors on and off over the years' and contextualizes why rumors made sense given AP-Riot! partnership history

Topics

Trademark Strategy and Abandoned IPprimaryAmerican Pinball Business DecisionsprimaryVirtual Pinball AdaptationssecondaryRiot! Pinball and Manufacturing PartnershipssecondaryCommunity Homebrew Projectssecondary

Sentiment

neutral(0.45)— Author presents facts objectively but expresses personal disappointment about Wrath of Olympus not being mass-produced. Generally informational tone with mild frustration about AP's pattern of abandoning trademarks.

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

There's been rumors on and off over the years that American Pinball (AP) was going to produce the well-known small run pinball machine by Riot! Pinball called Wrath of Olympus (WOOLY). The rumors make a lot of sense, first and foremost American Pinball manufactured a significant number of Riot! Pinball's Legends of Valhalla game. Furthermore, American Pinball actually registered for a trademark for Wrath of Olympus pinball in January 2021. Having said that, much like a number of other pinball themes that AP has filed trademarks for over the years, such as Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, Valkyries and Poker Run (which later became Hot Wheels), the Company has allowed its trademark for Wrath of Olympus pinball to expire in May 2022. From that, one could logically conclude that we won't see Wrath of Olympus from AP anytime soon. In my opinion, that's too bad. While I have never personally played WOOLY, I've always thought that its layout looked pretty cool. Below are several pictures and a video of WOOLY so that you can judge for yourself. What do you think? Would you like to see this pin mass produced? If you think that the WOOLY layout is cool, you can actually sort of play it in virtual pinball right now. Last year, someone created a Big Trouble in Little China virtual table using the WOOLY layout and some really cool art (thanks to Steve New on the heads up about this one). I've included some pics and video of that neat-looking virtual pin below as well.