// ARS TECHNICA — MODA & SOCIETÀ
The past, present, and future share a show floor at Pinball Expo 2026
Flipping through the highlights in and around Pinball Expo 2026.
It’s October in the Midwest, which means it’s time for the pinball world to descend on a convention center in Chicagoland for the annual Pinball Expo. Once thought to be an entertainment sector slowly bleeding out, pinball has come back in a big way in recent years. I visited one of Chicago’s last old-school manufacturers before heading down the road to see what’s new in the silver-ball universe.
Hundreds gathered on a brisk fall Friday morning outside Stern Pinball’s headquarters in Elk Grove, Illinois, waiting to enter a Wonka-like wonder factory where piles of raw parts become licensed creations from Jaws to the brand-new Fallout. Stern invited me to tour its offices and factory floor before heading off to the convention in nearby Schaumburg, Illinois.
As I stood with my tour group in Stern Pinball’s HQ lobby, mouth agape at the dozens of machines lining the walls, we were greeted by the man himself, Gary Stern, who gave us some background on the company’s 40-year history. After a stop at Gary’s podium, we were ushered to the factory floor entrance, where Stern employee and legendary game designer George Gomez briefed us on the tour rules and answered questions. According to Gomez, “at any given time, Stern controls 90 percent of the current pinball market, and everybody else splits the rest.”
While the industry may be expanding toward something more reminiscent of its glory days, there’s no doubt who still rules the market. With a steady stream of new license releases, Stern has cemented itself as the brand in modern pinball.
What I saw on the expo floor, though, showed me that the remaining 10 percent of the market is doing some really interesting things, and hobbyist projects are booming. From modular home setups to open development kits that let anyone with silver-ball dreams try their hand at game design, there was something for everyone. In short, it’s a very exciting time to be a pinball fan.
Stern’s latest offering, Fallout, stood near the entrance of a convention floor packed with the latest machines from manufacturers like Jersey Jack, Barrels of Fun, Spooky Pinball, and others. I’ve attended this show for the last four years, and each year seems to bring new companies into the fold. Despite more than 25 years of advances in home entertainment, nothing quite matches the tactile thrill of launching a metal ball around a wooden cabinet.
Several companies showed off their latest attempts to bring pinball into virtual reality without abandoning physical controls, letting players wear a VR helmet while pressing real buttons on a pedestal setup. It’s a fun novelty that demonstrates what’s possible, but if the lines at the expo were any indication, most people still prefer walking up to a physical machine and enjoying the tactile controls, visuals, and sounds that come with it.
One of the biggest questions facing anyone buying a pinball machine for home use is what to do when you get bored with a $10,000 game. Until recently, the options were to sell it, find someone willing to trade, or build your own virtual pin setup with screens instead of physical playfields. The Multimorphic P3 team saw an opportunity for another approach.
According to Multimorphic co-creative director Stephen Silver, “The way the P3 is designed is that the lower two-thirds is a ball-tracking interactive display… We have floating mechanisms above the screen, floating flippers, floating slings, floating targets. And the upper third is a swappable play field. We’ve got 10 different play fields now that we can swap and change the entire game.”