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Pinball· Updated · 9 min read

Who Makes Pinball Machines in 2025? A Guide to All the Pinball Manufacturers Making Modern Pinball Games

Colin Alsheimer
Colin Alsheimer
Who Makes Pinball Machines in 2025? A Guide to All the Pinball Manufacturers Making Modern Pinball Games

Despite what you may think if you're not actively in the arcade and retro gaming scene, pinball has never really died. While it is true that pinball nearly vanished in the late 1990s as video gaming and home console gaming were on the upswing, thanks to some determined people and companies (cough, Stern Pinball, cough), pinball managed to limp along for a few years before enjoying a resurgence in recent years.

Despite dwindling to just a single manufacturer as recently as the 2000s, the pinball industry is thriving again, and only getting stronger.

Are Pinball Machines Still Made?

Pinball Companies That Are Still Making New Pinball Machines in 2025

Stern Pinball

If you've ever asked yourself "who makes pinball machines in 2025?", Stern Pinball would like a word. Today, Stern Pinball is the leading manufacturer of modern pinball machines. The company was founded in 1999 by Gary Stern after purchasing the pinball division from Sega (which itself traces back to Data East Pinball, which Gary Stern had a hand in running). The Stern pinball name had also existed as Stern Electronics, Inc. from about 1977 until around 1985.

Stern Pinball Inc. typically releases three major games per year, which are known as their Cornerstone games. Cornerstone games feature the best licensed themes, and the work of Stern's best designers and artists. The company may also release several boutique games throughout a given year as well. Examples include home oriented versions of cornerstone releases (like the Jurassic Park home game) and limited edition remakes and special editions like The Beatles (remake of a classic Stern table, Seawitch) and Elvira's House of Horrors (more expensive than a regular table but filled with more features and toys).

Stern Pinball releases most games in three different trim lines - Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition. The Pro is their most basic trim line and is what is typically found on location in bars, restaurants, and arcades. The Premium and Limited Edition lines are geared more towards the home collector and have premium price points and in the case of LE's, limited production runs.

Stern Pinball is known for consistency, relatively high-quality work (particularly compared with some of the other manufacturers in this list), production capacity, and product support. Machines from Stern Pinball are easy to repair and maintain, which helps make them popular choices for location operators looking for something more reliable than a vintage game. There are lots of available parts from Stern themselves and retailers like Pinball Life, Marco Specialties, and others. Stern Pinball also does a lot to support other areas of pinball (like tournaments and competitive play). Recently, the company released their Stern Insider program, adding Internet connectivity to their machines and an extra layer of networked scorekeeping and achievements.

Stern pinball machines are purchased through their network of dealers and distributors, which can be located on their website.

Some of Stern's recent game lineup has included:

Jersey Jack Pinball

Jersey Jack Pinball is one of the leading manufacturers of pinball machines in the world, second only to Stern. Founded in 2011 by industry vet Jack Guarnieri, they are known for their technologically advanced machines, which often come with large LCD screens, immersive LED lighting and integrated cameras among other bells and whistles. They are also one of the first manufacturers to incorporate Bluetooth technology into their machines.

Their machines are typically more expensive than Stern Pinball machines, but they are also known for their high production quality and immersive audio/visual experiences.

Jersey Jack's recent lineup has included:

Spooky Pinball

Spooky Pinball is a smaller boutique pinball manufacturer that focuses on producing smaller runs of games (typically under 1,500 units) released every few years. Their games generally fall within and adjacent to the horror genre, like Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle and Halloween. However, there has been some deviation from those genres recently, such as with game releases like Loony Tunes.

Because of their smaller production capabilities, games have sold out quickly in the past (Rick and Morty is a good example of one) and are generally purchased by putting down a small deposit to reserve your spot on the production wait list. While they do have a few authorized distributors like other manufacturers in this list, their focus is mostly on selling their machines directly to customers through the deposit system. They also have a loyalty program called the Fang Club where for a small annual fee you get some Spooky merch and early access to new title releases.

Spooky Pinball's recent lineup highlights:

Chicago Gaming Company

Chicago Gaming Company is a unique pinball manufacturer in that it is not actually a standalone company, but rather a division of Churchill Cabinet. Churchill Cabinet produces game cabinets and playfields for other pinball machine manufacturers. Until recently, Chicago Gaming Company focused almost exclusively on remaking classic Bally/Williams era machines from the 1990s. However, in 2023, they would announce their first non-remake game (outside of an early 2000s home model game) with Pulp Fiction.

Their first remake, Medieval Madness, was released in 2015, and since then they have released remakes for Attack from Mars, [Monster Bash](), and Cactus Canyon. While the names of their trim lines have changed over the years, Chicago Gaming Company typically releases their pinball tables in 3 trim levels - a base model, mid-tier upgrade, and premium collectors edition.

Chicago Gaming Company recent lineup highlights:

Multimorphic, Inc

Multimorphic is known for their unique take on pinball machine production with their P3 gaming platform. Multimorphic began life in 2009 as a hobbyist control system that would allow pinball fans the ability to run custom code on existing machines. The popularity of this control board, called the P-ROC, would eventually enable founder Gerry Stellenberg the ability to start producing full games starting in 2012, with its first production run completed in 2017.

Until the release of Weird Al's Museum of Natural History, P3's have had mostly niche appeal. That said, Multimorphic enjoys largely positive word of mouth from owners and those who have tried a game for the first time. The P3 is built to be easier to repair and upgrade than most pinball machines, making it a potentially good pick for a first time pinball owner.

Multimorphic recent game lineup highlights:

Dutch Pinball

Dutch Pinball is a pinball manufacturer that is steeped in controversy. Best known for their Big Lebowski themed machine, which has been in and out of production since about 2017, Dutch Pinball only began releasing machines to the public in earnest in 2022. This renewed production effort came several years after numerous problems with their first game which at one point caused Dutch Pinball's owners to notify pre-order customers that production on their games would not be completed, triggering a slew of legal problems and community backlash for the company.

Dutch Pinball recent game highlights:

Pinball Brothers

Pinball Brothers is a company that has had its share of drama. Formed from the ashes of Heighway Pinball which rose to prominence with its Alien themed pinball machine. The Heighway version of the table was plagued by production and quality issues, eventually forcing Heighway Pinball out of business before finishing production.

Pinball Brothers recent production highlights:

Homepin

Homepin is a small boutique pinball manufacturer based primarily out of Taiwan. To date, they have released three machines, 2018's poorly received Thunderbirds themed pinball machine, 2022's This is Spinal Tap, and more recently, Blues Brothers in 2024. Homepin suffers from a generally poor reputation among pinball enthusiasts, mostly due to the build quality of their machines, as well as some of the antics of the company's owner.

Recent production highlights from Homepin:

Barrels of Fun

Barrels of Fun is the newest manufacturer on this list as they made their grand entrance to the pinball scene in 2023 with their first release, Labyrinth Pinball. The company was founded by David van Es and Brian Savage. It is located in Houston Texas and is rumored to have several more licensed games in development.

Current BoF production highlights:

Manufacturers that are No Longer Active

American Pinball (possibly no longer active)

American Pinball is a smaller pinball machine manufacturer launched in 2015 by Dhaval Vasani. Vasani launched American Pinball when he stepped in to rescue the visionary but troubled John Popadiuk, who had run into financial and legal trouble with his own pinball startup, Zidware. American Pinball's first release was Houdini, based on a Popadiuk concept table. However, Popadiuk was fired from American Pinball before Houdini was finally released.

American Pinball tends to offer its games in two trim lines: a Classic line, which is like Stern's Pro, and a Deluxe Edition, which is usually limited production. American Pinball was mostly known for building unlicensed themes like Houdini and Oktoberfest before landing their first licensed theme with Hot Wheels.

American Pinball's recent lineup has included:

Haggis Pinball (No longer active)

Haggis Pinball is one of the newer manufacturers on this list.

As of 7.18.24, it appears as if Haggis Pinball has gone out of business.

Haggis Pinball current production highlights:

Other Boutique Pinball Manufacturers

  • Pedretti Gaming
  • Pinball Adventures
  • Quetzall Pinball
  • Bitronic
  • Play Mechanix
  • Raw Thrills
  • Turner Pinball
  • Ramps Pinball
  • HEXA Pinball
  • Wonderland Amusements
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Colin Alsheimer
Colin Alsheimer

Colin is the chief pixel pusher at Kineticist. He's a lifetime gamer who became enamored with pinball after taking in a family copy of the 1979 classic Joker Poker (the EM version). Since then he's bought, sold and repaired many machines, competed in all kinds of tournaments, and contributes to This Week in Pinball, the New England Pinball League, and Pin-Masters of New England. Previously, Colin spent over a decade working in marketing for agencies and tech startups. He also started and ran a music blog, happy hour website, and wrote a regular craft beer review column for Central Track in Dallas. Once aspired to be an artsy film director.

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