Stern Pinball

Stern Pinball, Inc. (“SPI”) designs and manufactures arcade-quality pinball games.  It is the only maker of arcade-quality pinball games in the world and is located just outside Chicago, Illinois.

The company traces its lineage to Philadelphia in the 1930’s when Sam Stern got into the business of operating pinball games.  These new games were all the rage in bars and restaurants, and game operators were making a very good living.  Sam became so successful as an operator that he soon became a game distributor as well.

The late ‘70’s and early ‘80s saw the emergence of coin-operated video games.  As the coin-op market evolved, other companies acquired many of the existing pinball companies.  In 1986, after the death of his father, Gary founded Data East Pinball, which was purchased by Sega in 1994 and became Sega Pinball.   In 1999, Gary bought the business back from Sega and renamed it Stern Pinball, Inc.  Less than a month later, Williams announced plans to cease pinball production in order to focus on the slot machine business.

Through the first decade of the new millennium, SPI has continued to carry the pinball banner and promote the game throughout the world.  The company has released many popular games, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Shrek, Batman, Spiderman, the Simpsons Pinball Party and many more. Its games continue to be enjoyed by both pinball enthusiasts and casual players around the world.