Pinball FX makers answer blowback to new DLC scheme

polygon.com:

The maker of the long-running Pinball FX series of virtual pinball tables says a switch to a controversial new means of selling live content will help it accommodate cross-platform buys later. But longtime players will have to re-buy tables in the rebooted Pinball FX that they may have owned and played for years in other versions.

“We’re hoping that the lines are broken down between first parties, and we can do cross-buy, cross-platform,” Mel Kirk, Zen Studios’ chief operating officer, told Polygon on Thursday. Pinball FX launched in early access on the Epic Games Store the same day.

“So, us now removing entitlements from the store, and having them in Zen’s camp, where they have a player identification, we can say ‘Hey, Player X bought E.T. on Epic Games Store, they also have Pinball FX on Xbox Series X, we can allow them to have [cross-buy],’” Kirk said. “That’s always been a goal for us, we haven’t been able to, but we see in the future that we can do that.”

Getting there, though, has rankled many fans who saw the news on Wednesday that Pinball FX would switch to an in-game currency model, and also offer an all-you-can-eat subscription to all of its tables for $14.99 per month. Absent other platforms — and Zen Studios has not officially declared where the new Pinball FX will launch, other than the Epic Games Store — Kirk understands that looks like a tough sell.

Pinball FX is a free download, like the series’ earlier incarnations, that offers access to two free tables, which change daily. The free tables don’t have all game modes available, however, and they don’t allow players to unlock all of the in-game collectibles that are offered.

To do that, players have to either buy the table (or sign up for the $14.99