# John Trudeau Joins Stern Pinball

**Source:** Pinball News Website  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2013-05-07  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/news/trudeau.html

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## Analysis

John Trudeau, legendary pinball designer with 30+ year career and 60+ game credits including Creature from the Black Lagoon, Judge Dredd, and The Machine: Bride of Pinbot, has joined Stern Pinball's design team as of May 6, 2013. He joins an elite design roster including George Gomez, John Borg, Steve Ritchie, and Greg Freres.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] John Trudeau has designed over 60 pinball games during his career — _Official news announcement from Pinball News Website_
- [HIGH] John Trudeau's career spans more than 30 years, beginning with Game Plan in 1981 — _Official news announcement_
- [HIGH] John Trudeau was most recently designing a game for Heighway Pinball before joining Stern — _Official news announcement_
- [HIGH] John Trudeau's first day at Stern was Monday, May 6, 2013 — _Official news announcement with date confirmation_

### Notable Quotes

> "John - famed for designing such classic games as Creature from the Black Lagoon, Judge Dredd and The Machine: Bride of Pinbot - has created over 60 pinball games during his career which has spanned more than 30 years."
> — **Pinball News Website (source)**, Article body
> _Summarizes John Trudeau's legendary status and career credentials_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| John Trudeau | person | Legendary pinball designer, 30+ year career, 60+ games designed, joined Stern Pinball May 2013 |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer hiring John Trudeau to join design team |
| George Gomez | person | Senior pinball designer at Stern Pinball |
| John Borg | person | Pinball designer at Stern Pinball |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Pinball designer at Stern Pinball |
| Greg Freres | person | Pinball designer recently hired at Stern Pinball |
| Tanio Klyce | person | Recently hired at Stern Pinball prior to John Trudeau |
| Heighway Pinball | company | UK-based pinball startup where John Trudeau was designing before joining Stern |
| Game Plan | company | Pinball manufacturer where John Trudeau began his career in 1981 |
| Creature from the Black Lagoon | game | Classic pinball game designed by John Trudeau |
| Judge Dredd | game | Classic pinball game designed by John Trudeau |
| The Machine: Bride of Pinbot | game | Classic pinball game designed by John Trudeau |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Personnel move / Design team hiring, Designer credentials and career history
- **Secondary:** Stern Pinball organizational structure

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Announcement presents John Trudeau's hiring as a major positive development, emphasizing his legendary status and extensive experience. Tone is celebratory and prestigious.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Stern Pinball strategically hiring legendary designer talent to strengthen creative roster (confidence: high) — Multiple senior designer hires (Freres, Klyce, Trudeau) in short timeframe; article notes Trudeau joins 'George Gomez, John Borg, Steve Ritchie and Greg Freres' elite design team
- **[personnel_signal]** John Trudeau joins Stern Pinball design team, following recent hires Greg Freres and Tanio Klyce (confidence: high) — Official announcement: 'John Trudeau has joined Stern Pinball's design team' with documented start date of May 6, 2013

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## Transcript

Date: 7 May, 2013

Following hot on the heels of Greg Freres and Tanio Klyce, Stern Pinball has made yet another addition to their design team with the hiring of game designer John Trudeau.

John Trudeau

John - famed for designing such classic games as Creature from the Black Lagoon, Judge Dredd and The Machine: Bride of Pinbot - has created over 60 pinball games during his career which has spanned more than 30 years. He began with Game Plan in 1981, and was most recently designing an upcoming game for new pinball start-up Heighway Pinball in the UK. He was waiting to complete that project before taking up his new position.

Now John joins George Gomez, John Borg, Steve Ritchie and Greg Freres in the game designers team at Stern Pinball. His first day at the factory was Monday, 6th May and the company posted this picture of him in his somewhat spartan office.

John in his office at Stern

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 83181c8f-34b9-4cd1-bbea-bbb4881187ec*