Back in 2018, a group of individuals who called themselves Circus Maximus announced their intention to bring the shelved Capcom gangster-themed pinball machine Kingpin back to life. Kingpin was the last game designed by Capcom's shuttered pinball division all the way back in 1996. Only nine units of this Mark Ritchie-designed game were produced before Capcom pulled the plug on its operations, making the game super rare today.
When Circus Maximus announced their plan to remake Kingpin, their original timeline was to have it for sale by sometime in 2019. Obviously that didn't happen. I'm sure that the initial delays in the project were compounded a thousand times by the pandemic.
The project that the group was originally created to work on, reproducing the legendary Bally Pinball Circus game, appears to be dead in the water. The question is, what is the status of the Kingpin project, which seemed to be much further along than the original project? There has been complete silence from the Circus Maximums team for years. The "News" section of the company's website (http://www.circusmaximusgames.com/blog) hasn't been updated since 2017.
As evidenced by the white hot market for remakes of classic pinball machines right now, Fathom, FunHouse, TOTAN, Medieval Madness, Cactus Canyon, Monster Bash, and on and on, a Kingpin remake makes a lot of sense to me. I bet that it would sell really well if it was done right. Is the project completely dead OR does the group have an agreement in place for a major pinball manufacturer, such as Chicago Gaming Company or American Pinball to manufacture their planned Kingpin machines for them with an NDA in place that prevents them from providing any updates right now as some rumors have suggested? I'm personally leaning towards the theory that the project is just dead, but I can't help but hold out a sliver of hope that this cool machine might indeed be lying in the weeds ready to pop out unexpectedly. Even though there's a huge backlog of pinball machines that have been designed but not manufactured yet because of the massive supply chain issues right now, I personally think that it would be smart for an existing manufacturer to bring Kingpin to life. Fingers crossed!
I reached out to the Circus Maximus team this morning via the contact form on their website, but have yet to hear anything back. I will provide an update if I hear anything. Are there any fresh rumors on this game out there? If so, I'd love to hear them.
A picture of Capcom's original translite for Kingpin.
A picture of the "New" Limited Edition translite that the Circus Maximus commissioned the former Bally artist Dave Christensen to make for the new game.
The original cabinet side art for Capcom Kingpin.
The new side art for the Limited Edition Kingpin.
A shot of the Kingpin remake's playfield.
A Kingpin remake being played at the 2018 Texas Pinball Festival.
A Kingpin remake being played at the 2018 Texas Pinball Festival.
A Kingpin remake being played at the 2018 Texas Pinball Festival.
A Kingpin remake being played at the 2018 Texas Pinball Festival.
The Circus Maximus team.
A picture of Bally's The Pinball Circus, one of only 2 units ever produced.
A presentation that the Circus Maximus team made at the Free Play Florida convention in 2018.
Kingpin gameplay from the 2018 Southern Fried Gaming Expo
Pictures are courtesy of the interesting pinside thread "Capcom Kingpin is being built..info here": https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/capcom-kingpin-is-being-builtinfo-here