Good morning everyone. Happy New Year, well New Year’s Eve at least :).
There’s been some talk out there that Stern Pinball will reveal its next cornerstone pinball machine today. I’m here to say that we definitely will not get a full reveal of the game today. In fact, I honestly would be surprised if we even get a teaser of the game, rumored to be based upon the iconic role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, today.
Stern invited distributors out to its factory in Elk Grove Village, Illinois to officially show them the game on the morning of January 7th. The major players in the “pinball media” space were all invited out to the factory to see the game after the distros that afternoon. Unfortunately, that’s a work day for me and since I do all of the Knapp Arcade stuff completely for free, I am not going to be able to make it out there.
Having said that, I personally can’t wait to see the game. Dungeons and Dragons is an absolute home run theme for me. While, I don’t ever sit down with a group of people and play physical D&D, I have been absolutely in love with the game and the lore for decades. I used to look forward to waking up every weekend to watch the Saturday Morning cartoon based on the game when I was little (it ran from 1983 - 1985).
I’ve also definitely played every PC and console came based on D&D that has ever come out, from the “Gold Box” SSI games that came out between 1988 through 1992 to my absolute favorites BioWare’s Baldur’s Gate (1998) and Black Isle Studios’s Icewind Dale (2000). The newest entry in the D&D video game arena, Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) is an absolute masterpiece. Having sold over 15 Million copies worldwide since it launched in 2023. BG3 won every single major “Game of the Year” award in the video game industry.
2024 was the 50th Anniversary of the beloved Dungeons and Dragons franchise. I see a lot of mocking of it as a potential pinball theme by people on Pinside who think that they are too cool for the game and that anyone who plays it or likes it is a “nerd.” Those folks couldn’t be more wrong.
Stern Pinball has been making every effort to spread the hobby of pinball to younger people. They strongly believe that’s where the growth in the hobby will come from. I’ve seen people decrying Stern’s “lack of Market Research” on pinball themes. That’s complete nonsense.
Over 50 Million people play D&D Worldwide. Here’s how they break down by age:
18 - 24: 24.58%
25 - 34: 54.33%
35 - 44: 13.46%
45 - 54: 5.74%
15 - 19: 12%
This isn’t a theme where 60 year-old dudes are going to be falling all over themselves lining up to buy it on day one. However, if Stern was going to ever take a shot and try to woo younger buyers, to me this is the right theme to choose. Will it work? It’s hard to say, but there is a method to Stern’s madness and despite all of the criticism of the theme choice I absolutely can see why they decided to make a Dungeons and Dragons pinball machine. This theme will absolutely slay (pun intended lol) at Breweries. Hopefully it will pull some younger buyers into the hobby as well.
Of course, beyond the theme the game actually has to be good for it to sell in significant numbers. I sure hope that it Rocks. We’ll see. But as I said, I don’t think that we’ll see today. My most likely guess as to when we will get a Dungeons and Dragons teaser is Friday, January 3rd followed by a full reveal either Monday the 6th or possibly even the day of the big presentations at Stern’s factory, Tuesday the 7th.
Of course, these are educated guesses. I will be keeping an eye out for any info from Stern and will report back on it here as soon as we have any news.
I wish everyone a very Happy and Healthy New Year!
Can anybody under 35 afford a pinball machine? I think this will appeal to buyers 40 and above who grew up with the D&D TTRPG at it's peak.
I agree, Jason—home run of a theme. This is the kind of game they're aiming to get out on less-pinball-focused locations; this is probably one of their lines of attack to get their pins into the FEC market, as JJP was trying for with TS4. Even if that doesn't work out to the level they hope, it's a perfect pinball theme for 2025. Cross-generational appeal, lots of character-building opportunities over multiple games in the style of Venom (but with more customizability), and it's generic enough that it's not offensive to anyone. Even if you don't love D&D, who doesn't dig a fantasy theme? Stoked to see what they come up with!
FYI JK, D&D and Hasbro has gone woke over the past 5 years and has lost all good will of the fanbase for the most part. All the best to you and your family in the new year!