Steve Ritchie is retiring. He announced it Friday during Jersey Jack Pinball's seminar at Pinball Expo, where JJP is showing his latest game, Sonic the Hedgehog.
Ritchie closed the seminar with what he called "one last announcement":
Sonic is my last coin-operated pinball machine. I'm going to retire. I'm moving to Nevada now, where they have like 300 days a year of sunshine. These big mountains. It's a beautiful place. I need less intensity in my life. There's no question. As much as I have a love for the game, I'm gonna quit and do other things, like ride my side-by-side in the mountains that surround this valley where I live, and enjoy adventures, exploring. I deserve it. I'm 76.
"I enjoyed making every game," he added. "That's what I have to say, folks." Before he left the stage, he thanked the fans: "I make them for you, and I make them for me, too, but the greatest pleasure for me is seeing people enjoy them. That's the magic."
Pinball News had the full seminar up on YouTube the same evening.
Ritchie's retirement had been rumored for weeks. Kineticist asked Jersey Jack Pinball about it on September 23 and never heard back.
The Master of Flow
Ritchie joined Atari in 1974, and his first pinball machine came out in 1977. His Williams games include Firepower, Black Knight (that's his voice doing the taunting), High Speed, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Star Trek: The Next Generation. At Stern he designed Spider-Man, AC/DC, Star Trek, Game of Thrones and Star Wars, then moved to Jersey Jack Pinball for Elton John and Sonic the Hedgehog, which launched this June.
The news comes a day after Stern revealed AC/DC Remastered, John Borg's redesign of Ritchie's 2012 game.
Featured photo via Pinball Archive.
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