Episode 79 - Licensed Themes
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
58 min
Summary
Wedgehead traces pinball's shift to licensed themes from 1989-1999 through sales data and industry dynamics.
Alan and Alex from Wedgehead Pinball Podcast trace the history of licensed themes in pinball, examining how Gary Stern strategy starting in 1989 shifted the industry from original themes to licensed IP. They analyze sales figures from Data East, Williams, Bally, Sega, and Gottlieb across the early 1990s licensing wars, showing that while licenses like The Addams Family (21,000 units) dominated sales, successful unlicensed games like Fish Tales (13,600 units) and strong design sometimes outperformed weaker licensed titles. The episode concludes with Williams' 1999 shutdown of pinball, arguing it was driven by shareholder pressure and declining market growth rather than licensing strategy failures.
Highlights
- The Addams Family (1992) is the highest selling pinball machine of all time with almost 21,000 units sold
- Fish Tales (1992), an unlicensed game about fishing, sold 13,600 units, outselling many licensed games
- Data East USA Inc.. Playboy 35th Anniversary (1989) was their first licensed game, selling only 2,300 units
- Williams/Elvira and the Party Monsters (1989) sold 4,000 units, double Data East USA Inc.. Playboy performance
- Terminator 2 (1991) sold 15,000 units and featured Arnold Schwarzenegger doing call-outs in the studio
- Joe Kaminkow at Data East pushed for licensed themes as a marketing strategy starting around 1989
- Williams' parent company WMS shut down the pinball division in 1999 due to slot machine business being more lucrative and shareholder pressure
- Revenge from Mars (1999) sold 6,900 units despite a significant price increase and declining late-90s market
- South Park (1999) by Sega sold only 2,200 units, contradicting Joe Kaminkow claim it was a major industry force
- Pat Lawlor design excellence, not the Twilight Zone license, drove 15,200 Twilight Zone sales in 1993
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