Briefly chatted with Richie today on what's going on w/ qualifiers.
Until any new info comes up, assume things will work like KO4: dedicated machines for the top 12 HSL, with wildcard machines available. Richie has some personal things going on that are dividing his time more than I think he'd like, but I don't know much I can really get into that. It's safe to assume machines seeded from Eric's tournaments will still be available, so one minimum, maybe two of those are up for grabs.
In other words, right now you have two concrete qualification routes for a dedicated cabinet:
#1. Get into the arcade top 12.
The score to beat is Dean Saglio's 1,100,200.
#2. Beat Dan Desjardins' DKO score of 1,059,700.
While there may be a 2nd DKO seed, getting the 1st seed would assure you a cab. We don't know how many cabs beyond the top 12 will be available.
If scenario #1 is met, it should be noted that the DKO score to beat will go from being 1,059,700 to a monolithic 1,177,600 set by Dean Saglio.