# STAR WARS REVEALED **Source:** Pinball News Website **Type:** article **Published:** 2017-05-31 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2017/05/31/star-wars-announced-2 --- ## Analysis Star Wars pinball by Steve Ritchie was officially revealed on May 31, 2017 via The Star Wars Show Facebook page, three days ahead of the planned June 4 announcement. The game features three variants (Pro/Premium/LE) with distinct art packages and playfield configurations, including the Death Star lock mechanism, F-O-R-C-E targets, four color-coded mode sets, and an LCD screen. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Steve Ritchie designed Star Wars pinball — _Article states 'Steve Ritchie's next game would be Star Wars'_ - [HIGH] The announcement was leaked early by The Star Wars Show on May 31, 2017, three days before the planned official June 4 announcement — _Article explicitly states the official announcement wasn't expected until June 4, but The Star Wars Show 'let the cat out of the bag' on May 31_ - [HIGH] Three variants exist with different art packages: Pro shows all characters, Premium focuses on Empire forces, LE features rebels — _Article provides detailed description of each variant's art package and includes images_ - [HIGH] Pro model lacks features found on Premium/LE, including Death Star as static toy (not breakopen), plastic instead of metal ramps, no upper right ramp level, no loop-around wireform, and no Millennium Falcon toy — _Article explicitly compares Pro vs Premium/LE playfield features with description and images_ - [HIGH] The game features four color-coded mode sets: Hoth (blue, centre lane), Death Star (purple, left lane), Tatooine (red, right scoop), and Endor (green, left ramp) — _Article provides explicit breakdown of mode structure with color and shot assignments_ ### Notable Quotes > "The fact that Steve Ritchie's next game would be *Star Wars* had been pretty well-known for several months, but an official announcement wasn't expected until June 4th, 2017." > — **Article author**, Opening paragraph > _Establishes that the announcement was leaked early, creating urgency and news value_ > "Today though (May 31st), *[The Star Wars Show]* let the cat out of the bag with details and pictures of the new game." > — **Article author**, Second paragraph > _Identifies the source of the early leak as The Star Wars Show official Facebook page_ > "Balls are locked in the Death Star which breaks open to release them for multiball. A wireform loops around in front of the flippers to provide some additional entertainment when balls are locked or released, while the ball is initially plunged across the playfield at the F-O-R-C-E targets." > — **Article author**, Playfield description section > _Describes core mechanical lock mechanism and plunging mechanic_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary pinball designer; designer of Star Wars pinball | | Star Wars | game | New pinball machine by Stern based on Star Wars franchise; features Pro/Premium/LE variants | | Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Star Wars pinball | | The Star Wars Show | event/media | Official Star Wars Facebook media that prematurely revealed Star Wars pinball on May 31, 2017 | | Pinball News | organization | News outlet reporting on the Star Wars pinball announcement | | Death Star | product | Lock mechanism toy on Star Wars pinball; breaks open to release balls for multiball | | Millennium Falcon | product | Toy featured only on Premium/LE Star Wars pinball variants, not on Pro | ### Topics - **Primary:** Game announcement and reveal, Three-tier pricing model (Pro/Premium/LE), Playfield design and mechanics - **Secondary:** Art package differentiation, Early/unscheduled announcements ### Sentiment **Neutral** (0.5) — The article is primarily factual and descriptive, reporting on the announcement itself without editorial commentary or sentiment. The tone is professional news reporting. ### Signals - **[leak_detection]** Star Wars pinball announcement leaked three days early via The Star Wars Show Facebook page before scheduled June 4 official announcement (confidence: high) — Article explicitly notes 'official announcement wasn't expected until June 4th, 2017' but The Star Wars Show 'let the cat out of the bag' on May 31st - **[announcement]** Star Wars pinball officially revealed with three-tier variant structure (Pro/Premium/LE) and detailed playfield specifications (confidence: high) — Official reveal via The Star Wars Show with images and full playfield descriptions provided - **[product_strategy]** Clear three-tier differentiation strategy with Pro lacking key features (static Death Star vs breakopen, plastic vs metal ramps, no Millennium Falcon, no wireform) compared to Premium/LE (confidence: high) — Detailed playfield comparison showing specific mechanical and cosmetic differences between Pro and Premium/LE variants --- ## Transcript The fact that Steve Ritchie’s next game would be Star Wars had been pretty well-known for several months, but an official announcement wasn’t expected until June 4th, 2017. Today though (May 31st), The Star Wars Show let the cat out of the bag with details and pictures of the new game. As expected, there are the usual three variants – Pro, Premium and Limited Edition, with different art packages for all three. The Pro shows all the characters, while the Premium focuses on the Empire’s forces, and the LE features the rebels. !The Pro edition The Pro edition !The Premium edition The Premium edition !The Limited Edition The Limited Edition Onto the playfield, and the Pro is lacking a number of features found on the higher models. Here’s the full-featured Premium/LE playfield. !The Premium/LE playfield The Premium/LE playfield Balls are locked in the Death Star which breaks open to release them for multiball. A wireform loops around in front of the flippers to provide some additional entertainment when balls are locked or released, while the ball is initially plunged across the playfield at the F-O-R-C-E targets. There appear to be four sets of three modes, each set represented by a colour and a playfield shot – Hoth (blue, centre lane), Death Star (purple, left lane), Tatooine (red, right scoop) and Endor (green, left ramp). !The Pro playfield The Pro playfield The Death Star here appears to be a static toy, with plastic instead of metal ramps, no upper level to the right ramp, no loop-around wireform and no Millennium Falcon toy. The playfield art is very similar though, and all models feature a miniature LCD screen above the Tie-Fighter target bank and back panel artwork. Stern Pinball will no doubt produce an official press release over the next day or so to bring us full details and prices, and Pinball News will bring you all that information just as soon as it’s available. _(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 238b45c8-7302-45d8-8c2f-9aee37e3f1ba*