# Steve Ritchie Retires
by [Colin Alsheimer](/author/colin) · October 17, 2026 · [News](/news/category/news)

> Steve Ritchie, the Master of Flow, is retiring. He announced it Friday at Jersey Jack Pinball's Pinball Expo seminar.

[Steve Ritchie](https://www.kineticist.com/people/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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS_tXs3KpAU) up on YouTube the same evening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS\_tXs3KpAU

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*](https://www.kineticist.com/news/stern-reveals-acdc-remastered), John Borg's redesign of Ritchie's 2012 game.

*Featured photo via Pinball Archive.*

## Related
- Game: [AC/DC Remastered](/games/pinball/acdc-remastered-2026)
- Game: [Sonic the Hedgehog](/games/pinball/sonic-the-hedgehog)

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