Zen does it again - “Zen Pinball Party” for Apple Arcade

Scared Stiff · Aug 9, 2021

Well Zen has done it again. More of alienating their biggest supporters, more fracturing of their content, more exclusives locked away on another platform. It’s gotten all rather ridiculous.

I am referring to today’s announcement of Zen Pinball Party exclusively for Apple Arcade. A lot of tables are stuff we have seen before, even some Williams tables, but some are new and well, unless I am not understanding their plans correctly when they say “exclusive”, I guess you’ll have to have an Apple device and pay a monthly subscription to access these new tables.

And that’s a shame as the How to Train a Dragon and Trolls tables look pretty good.

https://youtu.be/lp2dRMES3uI

The My Little Pony one, eh....not so much. Zen seems to think it’s a “Hot IP” though...lol.

shogun00 · Aug 10, 2021

Zen's definition of "exclusive" is as farfetched as their definition for "soon". Personally, I think it is just a timed exclusive.

Gord Lacey · Aug 10, 2021

I believe Apple gets a 1 year exclusive on the Apple Arcade games and then they can appear elsewhere. "Alba" was an Apple Arcade game that recently made its way to other platforms.

Narc0lep5y · Aug 10, 2021

Whelp... 2021 is a wash but maybe 2022 will be the great year for Zen pinball. By then we'll get FX on steam and probably super discounts on all of these new licensed zen original table packs that maybe my girls (Trolls/Pony) will still care about when they release.

If you've got an Apple device sign up for a Target Circle membership (it's free) and get a 6 months of Apple Arcade for free and play them to bridge the exclusive gap if that's your thing.
Also has 4 months of Apple TV & music for free too for those (like me) who waited to watch Ted Lasso.

https://www.target.com/circle/partners

yespage · Aug 10, 2021

My daughter would be interested in a few of them, but I'm not getting an iPad to play pinball on a tablet. What are they thinking?! I understand developing many different platforms can be an issue, but PC goes around? I don't get it. Zen had something great going, but maybe it wasn't making enough money.

HighFive · Aug 10, 2021

Im going to laugh like crazy if i see Tarek Oberdieck leading all the leaderboards of these tables!

. Poor kids trying to catch him up!

yespage · Aug 11, 2021

HighFive said:
Im going to laugh like crazy if i see Tarek Oberdieck leading all the leaderboards of these tables! . Poor kids trying to catch him up!

Mom, what does the E+18 mean in this score?

shutyertrap · Aug 11, 2021

Narc0lep5y said:
If you've got an Apple device sign up for a Target Circle membership (it's free) and get a 6 months of Apple Arcade for free and play them to bridge the exclusive gap if that's your thing.
Also has 4 months of Apple TV & music for free too for those (like me) who waited to watch Ted Lasso.

https://www.target.com/circle/partners

That's really helpful info! Plus, Ted Lasso

curtis · Aug 12, 2021

I wholeheartedly agree. It's beyond ridiculous. I was so excited about Zen and it's pinball product/software. Now, being alienated, I've turned away from them. I feared craziness would happen with the acquisition, and here it is.
My 2 cents.

Scared Stiff said:
Well Zen has done it again. More of alienating their biggest supporters, more fracturing of their content, more exclusives locked away on another platform. It’s gotten all rather ridiculous.

Scared Stiff · Aug 13, 2021

Narc0lep5y said:
Whelp... 2021 is a wash but maybe 2022 will be the great year for Zen pinball. By then we'll get FX on steam

Well, not until one year after release on Epic. So the clock hasn’t even started yet on Steam. Meaning most of 2022 will be a wash too for Steam players. I guess I will devote time to my other Steam games instead.

shogun00 · Aug 13, 2021

Scared Stiff said:
I guess I will devote time to my other Steam games instead.

Is one of those games Zaccaria Pinball by any chance?

HighFive · Aug 14, 2021

shogun00 said:
Is one of those games Zaccaria Pinball by any chance?

Funny thing, on my side its what i did, but on Switch. I got use of the somehow different ball physic compare to fx, but got use to it. And by trying them all, i found some pretty interesting tables to play.

Kolchak357 · Aug 14, 2021

I have Apple devices, but if it’s a subscription service, them I’m out. I don’t do subscriptions for games.
I try and avoid subscriptions as much as possible for anything. In most cases, there is no bigger waste of money than a subscription. I don’t even have Netflix.

Gord Lacey · Aug 15, 2021

So the good news for people is that Apple Arcade games usually have 1 year of exclusivity, and then they appear elsewhere. So, for those that don't subscribe to Apple Arcade (I don't), think of this as a preview of what's to come..

I'm more worried about their apparent lack of plans for the regular iOS game. That's been my platform of choice due to ease of picking it up and playing, and I own all but 8-9 tables on it, so I'd like to continue to see it supported.

Pinballwiz45b · Aug 15, 2021

Gord Lacey said:
So the good news for people is that Apple Arcade games usually have 1 year of exclusivity, and then they appear elsewhere. So, for those that don't subscribe to Apple Arcade (I don't), think of this as a preview of what's to come..

I'm more worried about their apparent lack of plans for the regular iOS game. That's been my platform of choice due to ease of picking it up and playing, and I own all but 8-9 tables on it, so I'd like to continue to see it supported.

Zen Pinball Party before FX, it seems like. Zen's wording of "currently" greatly implies a timed exclusive before arriving on other games. What's yet to be determined is how long before these tables arrive -- Dread Nautical was 6 months both on Apple, then on Epic.

As for the regular iOS game, remember that it's running on Zen's in-house engine, whereas ZPP is running on Unreal. If Zen releases a standard app for general mobile platforms, it'd likely be the same case we're seeing on Pinball FX re: no purchase transfers.

Scared Stiff · Aug 20, 2021

shogun00 said:
Is one of those games Zaccaria Pinball by any chance?

No, I meant other games in general not necessarily pinball. &#55357;&#56832;

zmcvay · Aug 30, 2021

Looks like Pinball Party is out this Friday, so we can start the exclusivity clock countdown.

Anyone remember back when one of the big plusses of the Zen catalog was that releases would happen on the bulk of platforms simultaneously?

Pinballwiz45b · Aug 30, 2021

zmcvay said:
Looks like Pinball Party is out this Friday, so we can start the exclusivity clock countdown.

Anyone remember back when one of the big plusses of the Zen catalog was that releases would happen on the bulk of platforms simultaneously?

It didn't really start out this way. Even the earliest of Zen's titles were exclusively on individual platforms, back in the FX1 / early Zen mobile days.

vfpcoder · Aug 30, 2021

Well -- if that's the case -- I'll be checking it out on my iPad Pro this Friday!!

zmcvay · Aug 31, 2021

Pinballwiz45b said:
It didn't really start out this way. Even the earliest of Zen's titles were exclusively on individual platforms, back in the FX1 / early Zen mobile days.

More thinking of the TPA heyday, but honestly, I'm not even really upset. I'm sure the last year and a half has been just as unkind to Zen as everyone else, and I do not begrudge them a few months wait to play tables if the exclusivity money allows them to keep the lights on.

Just looking forward to more pinball eventually, Pinball Noir, more Williams tables, and yes, I'll even give My Little Pony a spin when it's out for PC or Playstation.

Zen does it again - “Zen Pinball Party” for Apple Arcade

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