WMS Licensing FAQ's

[DonkeyJim]

1. Why has the license not been renewed? Whose decision was it?

The company that controls the WMS IP chose not to renew our agreement.



2. When will the Williams/Bally tables stop being sold?

June 30th



3. Will there be discounts on the tables before the contract expires? If not, why?

No, our agreement with WMS prohibits there being any sales on their tables before we have to take them off the market.




4. Will there be any updates/bug fixes for the tables before/after the contract expires?

Yes, we will continue to support all of the tables in Pinball Arcade.




5. What will happen to the tables that are already owned (or unlocked, as with the Kickstarter rewards) once the contract expires?

Everyone who owns a WMS table will still own it, and have full access to it. We will modify the game via updates before June 30th on each platform so that players can no longer buy WMS tables if they haven’t already. In most cases, if you don’t own a WMS you won’t be able to see that table in the game at all.




6. Would future hardware (iPhones/iPads, Android devices) be updated to allow the Williams/Bally tables to work correctly, or will there be a time when these are completely unplayable?

We will continue to support all of the tables in Pinball Arcade for customers who bought them. This includes support for users who need to re-download tables they’ve already bought.




7. With the loss of the Williams/Bally tables, what's the future of the app? Will we see it continued with new non-Williams/Bally tables?

Our “Season 8” release will include all of the Stern tables that we’ve done to date for SPA plus a couple more. We will continue to develop and release non-WMS tables. Once the WMS tables are removed from sale, the remaining tables for sale in the game (Stern, Gottlieb, and Alvin G) will be restructured into different packs based primarily on the table manufacture.




8. What's happening with the staff at FarSight? Will there be layoffs?

There are no plans to lay off any FarSight staff.




9. Is FarSight working on other projects?

Yes, in addition to developing many more digital versions of Stern tables, more Gottlieb tables, possibly more tables from other manufactures, and an awesome 2D pinball experience for mobile, we’re working on a couple new cross-platform games that are yet to be officially announced – primarily for console.




10. This sucks, right?



We are very disappointed by the WMS license holder’s decision – so it’s not great. But we’ll be working to enhance the players’ enjoyment of all of the tables in Pinball Arcade for years to come.


11. In regards to Tales of the Arabian Nights:

This table will no longer be available except to those who have purchased Season 1 or the Launch Pack.

[Lifeforce]

Will we be able to buy/otherwise acquire Tales of the Arabian Nights?

[Lord Squeak]

Thank you for the information. really, thank you.

[MuddyWolf]

Originally posted by Lifeforce:

Will we be able to buy/otherwise acquire Tales of the Arabian Nights?

No. That’s a Williams table.

btw
There’s a quick way to check which tables are leaving the game.
When you’re in the main menu, press the ‘flipper tables’ icon in the upper left corner.
Then look for the tab ‘Manufacturer’.

[VALIS]

That sucks so much, sorry FarSight. I really don't understand what the Bally/Williams owner has to gain from not renewing the license other than licensing the properties out to someone else or making their own video pinball game. And I doubt either of those things are happening.

And there goes my dream of ever getting Bad Cats in TPA, too. Boo!! Time to check back into Future Pinball and Visual Pinball, I guess. Wonder how they've progressed in the last five years.

[Glis]

Man, that is pretty harsh - sounds like a license holder who was simply waiting for something to infringe on their IP and assume they'll somehow make it big from re-licensing. -.-

Even though there cannot be a sale ahead of the change, but if you haven't picked up at least seasons 1-4 then do it now. Beyond that I reckon the Williams/Bally tables tables are, and with the greatest respect, not as fun to replay. But for the love of god, make sure you have seasons 1-4!

[DonkeyJim]

If you own or owned Tales O.T. Arabian Nights before June 30th, 2018 it will be yours to keep.

[Gamma Lyrae]

What constitutes ownership of the Arabian Nights table? I don't think there's been a point in PA's life where you had to pay for it.

[Lifeforce]

Originally posted by MuddyWolf:

Originally posted by Lifeforce:

Will we be able to buy/otherwise acquire Tales of the Arabian Nights?

No. That’s a Williams table.

I know, that's why I asked. Right now you can't own it, so it'll go away for everybody.

[Deane Fox]

I would imagine basically anybody who has installed the game prior to June 30 would be considered as "owning" any of the launch tables, but it would be nice for just a litttttle bit more clarification on that front.

[Paul]

Is there a list of all the tables that are going to be removed? I need to make sure that I've bought all of them before they disappear.

♥♥♥♥, what a disaster. This sucks so much....

[Lord Squeak]

Originally posted by Kusn Jimmy:

If you own or owned Tales O.T. Arabian Nights before June 30th, 2018 it will be your to keep.

That was the free table,, is it included in one of the seasons?
I got all the seasons , but unsure about his "launch pack thing",,, *oh right need to fix lunch pack*...

[Maith]

Originally posted by Kusn Jimmy:

3. Will there be discounts on the tables before the contract expires? If not, why?

No, our agreement with WMS prohibits there being any sales on their tables before we have to take them off the market.

Will there be discounts on the Season Packs? From what I gather there are tables not by WMS that shouldn't be in the agreement. So you could discount the Seasons by reducing the prices of the other tables to 0 and we could only pay the full WMS price?

[Deane Fox]

Originally posted by Paul:

Is there a list of all the tables that are going to be removed? I need to make sure that I've bought all of them before they disappear.

♥♥♥♥, what a disaster. This sucks so much....

Easy way to find out which ones is to boot up TPA and sort the tables by manufacturer.

Which is also a bit sobering when you realize just how much of their library currently is made up of Williams and Bally tables :(

[yatta99]

Originally posted by DrunkNinja:

Which is also a bit sobering when you realize just how much of their library currently is made up of Williams and Bally tables :(

Season 3 will be left with only 2 tables. Also, Banzi Run was just released 2 months ago, now it will be pulled in less than 2 months. That's under 4 months from release to pulled :(

[ShadowAngel]

10. This sucks, right?

This FAQ is a bit naive. There may not be any plans to kick off employees but considering that the Williams tables where the biggest sellers by a long shot and Season 1 was always said to be the big money maker you have to wonder where Farsight goes from here. Losing what is commonly named the 1 and 2 best Pinball companies of all time is a massive blow. Stern doesn't cut it, while some of their modern tables are quite good, remember their best table was designed by a soon to be convict who won't be around. Most other tables aren't really all that awesome and to top it off: they all rely on licenses, costing a lot of money and you have the same issues again: The license runs out, no agreement can be reached....it's done.

This really seems to be the end of Pinball Arcade. A ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ shame it is.