Sure sounds like it. Here's what was said at TPF.

Jack said JJP ordered X amount of parts for X amount of games and that Pirates is currently done / sold out. He didn't say that Pirates will never be made again but also didn't say "yes it will be" or something along those lines. There was no comment of "if there's more demand we will make more". Jack also mentioned that JJP needs to make room for future games.

If Pirates ever does come back I would expect some new "limited" edition but with a $11,500+ price tag a year or two from now like YBR.

Here's also what PinballStar, one of the largest JJP distributors, said in one of their latest emails. "Sold out for good".

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Mentioned something similar in another thread. JJP may not be able to survive on ultra high pins alone and games like POTC and WOZ may simply be too expensive for them to build. Look at Ruby Red WOZ, gone. That game was $9500 and now there's an $11,500 WOZ with a key mechanical feature removed and no mirrored backglass. Why not offer a Ruby Red still? They may not be able to, not at $9500. Will the Ruby Red WOZ ever come back? Jack didn't say yes, just like Pirates he said never say never but I seriously doubt it after YBR was revealed.

Pirates production may be ending for good as the game is to expensive to build and JJP wants to shift their direction as a pinball company. They are limiting their customer base by only offering games in the $9k+ range. All new future games starting with Willy Wonka may be scaled back in terms of features (same code commitment though, HQ animations, etc) to compete with Stern, American Pinball, CGC, and Spooky Pinball. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a $7k Willy Wonka as that would sell like hot cakes for JJP. JJP could still offer an $8k, $9k, or even $10k version of their games but the price for the "lower" model needs to be cheaper for them to grow their market share.

Looks like POTC will be my last NIB JJP then. These prices are nuts lol.

JJP will complete the code properly, they have done so for every other game they have made. At TPF Eric said Keith had been working on the games super wizard mode. It's also been nearly 4 months since a code update for the game so likely a lot of other stuff in there as well (hopefully).

I'm sure some people will keep paying more and more but at this point I can't, not at $10k+. With each price increase JJP is going to be limiting their customer base even more, as will Stern. At some point there will be a breaking point if prices keep increasing.

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Just to note. Kaneda said he spoke to Jack yesterday about Pirates (while at the JJP factory to play Willy Wonka) and mentioned that Jack said a Pirates Black Pearl edition will never be made. It also sounded like there are no plans to ever run Pirates again with the direction JJP is going.

Yeah. If JJP is planning to make 2 games a year then the entire programming team is going to be even busier at JJP. Hopefully the next Pirates update is a substantial update as it may be a while before Keith can return to it if has to start working on another game soon. Keith isn't on Willy Wonka code as Kaneda mentioned yesterday but rather Joe Katz. That may mean Keith gets to work on Pirates for a bit longer before starting a new game.

As others have said I think JJP wants to move onto more affordable and profitable games. Wonka is an example of that, Pirate's isn't. I would expect to see more games like Wonka in the future meaning slightly less mechanical features / toys compared to past titles but still the same focus on build and code quality.

While I don't think Pirates will be rerun I do question the delays with releasing new code for the game. Could JJP be timing a new big code update with a TPF announcement that the game is being rerun?

Are these upgrades just a rumor?

JJP really hasn't released any code updates in a while. I suppose they could release a few at TPF along side the network update feature.

Multiple people have heard the opposite from distubtors, and recently, so what's the deal? Lol

Pirates is done. Time for JJP to make more profit on slightly less loaded and complex games.

Good grief. Do you see what Stern is charging for $9k lately? Theres no way in hell Pirates could be run cheaper. That game is loaded more then 99% of pins out there. Seriously theres twice as much stuff in Pirates LE then say Stranger Things LE.

The JJP bashing from the usual suspects has gotten old these past few weeks.

Congrats on the new pin! I really liked playing an Elvira Premium on location and can see picking one up. I wish all Sterns were treated the same in regards to number of mechanical features and 3D molds.

That's great to hear. I'm a big fan of Hobbit as well and its ruleset. You mentioned some similarities with EOH ruletset and Hobbits. Does EOH have a deep progressive based ruleset with a lot of individual modes and some wizard modes?

Thanks!

That's awesome! Thanks for the details about the modes. The code sounds very well done.

I don't think JJP ever makes it again. They are now focused on games with a greater profit margin that also offers a more affordable model for home and operators (the SE model starting with Wonka). It's time for JJP to start getting two games out a year.