What New Pinball Machines Will We See Next?
By knapparcade
Things have been a little quiet in the arcade and pinball world since the reveal of Stern's new Star Wars pin. Info about the Granddaddy of Them All, this month's Chicago Pinball Expo (October 15th through the 18th in Schaumburg, Illinois), is starting to dominate the news. Last week I talked about the amazing Big Trouble in Little China homebrew by Mudflaps Pinball (https://www.knapparcade.org/blog/reveal-of-new-big-trouble-in-little-china-pinball) that will be at the show. I have second article about another incredible homebrew coming up this week. What else might we get a chance to see at Expo? Rumor has it that Stern Pinball is likely going to show off its next pinball machine, The Walking Dead Remastered, on its Expo Factory Tour - similar to the way that it showed off its Elvira's House of Horrors Blood Red Kiss Edition pin on its tour back in 2023. TWD2 is expected to begin shipping before Halloween. I recently took a look at the Pinball Expo seminar schedule. There's lots of amazing talks scheduled for the event, but in terms of "new" pinball machines two specific ones stood out. The first is titled "What to Expect in the Future" by Dutch Pinball and Dutch Pinball Exclusive's Melvin Williams. Call me crazy, but I think that we may get some cool new information at that one lol. Will we learn what game is coming up next from Dutch Pinball? Will we hear anything about its long-rumored Back to the Future pinball machine? Will they talk about the rumored production of John Popadiuk and Deeproot Pinball's Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland? I'm very curious to hear what they have to say.
A second new company is going to talk about its next pinball machine as well, its first licensed game! That company is the French manufacturer HEXA Pinball. Their presentation is titled "HEXA Pinball - Space Hunt Our Story & What Comes Next?" HEXA now has two American distributors and it is going to show off Space Hunt at the show as well.
Another manufacturer that will have a significant presence at Expo is the Texas-based manufacturer of Dune and Labyrinth, Barrels of Fun. According to a great new interview with the Barrels folks by the YouTube channel JOEcade, Barrels will have its own room at Expo.
During the interview, in addition to talking about its Expo presence the Barrels folks said that a fancy topper is still coming for Dune, though it will probably not be available during the first half of 2026. They also talked a little about the future of the Company and its releases, how they have an eclectic mix of themes lined up for the future.