[tinus_hn]

When sales declined quitting pinball was an obvious choice for Williams as they had the huge gambling machine market where they already were making much more money.

Stern made the pinball market work because it has gone extremely commercial, with licensed themes to attract casual players and layered game rules to attract advanced players.

That is the only way to survive in the pinball business, it’s a difficult, risky business with high upfront costs and short production runs to recoup the costs. You can only afford a few flops before you’re bust.