Long-Rumored Cuphead Pinball Machine Reportedly Won’t Go into Production

Although never officially announced, it’s been a bit of an open secret within the pinball community that American Pinball was working on a machine based on Cuphead, the multimedia property that started as a 2017 game from Studio MDHR and later inspired a three-season Netflix show. On one hand Cuphead seemed like a surprising license for a pinball company to pursue—pinball is laser-focused on stuff that 50 and 60 year old dudes like, and Cuphead’s hasn’t even been around for a decade—but this isn’t some super obscure license. The video game has sold millions of copies and is available on basically every modern platform, and the Netflix show seemed to be popular, based on the vague metrics that exist for streaming shows, and was well-received, winning two Emmy Awards and an Annie. If pinball companies want to get younger players into the hobby, Cuphead wasn’t the worst property to base a game on.

Unfortunately it looks like that game won’t be happening, if a report from Knapp Arcade is correct. According to a post that went up on Knapp’s site yesterday, the Cuphead machine won’t be going into production. This is despite the game being, in Knapp’s words, “nearly complete,” with many (including Knapp) claiming online to have actually seen the machine. It’s not especially uncommon for a finished pinball design to not go into production, and there are various machines playable at locations like the Pinball Hall of Fame in Vegas that only exist as prototypes; it’s also not unheard of for a finished design to later go into production years later. Still, it’ll be disappointing if a Cuphead machine got this deep into the race only to get axed before crossing the finish line.

American Pinball has been visibly struggling for years, unfortunately. They’ve developed a less-than-stellar reputation among pinball fans online, and although their devotion to original themes should be commended, few of them have resonated with a large audience. Their first original design, 2017’s Houdini, is still probably their best received game. Its most recent game, 2014’s Barry O’s Barbecue Challenge, was widely mocked by hard-to-please pinball fans, despite being the final game from the late legendary designer Barry Oursler. And the company’s Executive Vice President, David Fix, resigned earlier this year. If the rumored Cuphead game is being paused, many will take it as more proof of a company at risk.