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This Week in Pinball·article·analyzed·Jul 10, 2026

Analysis

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TL;DR

DCC pinball reveal imminent; Stern hires homebrewer Tanner Petch; 2.0 kit business thriving.

Summary

This Week in Pinball covers multiple industry developments including an imminent Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball machine (likely 2026 release), Stern's hiring of notable homebrewer Tanner Petch as a game designer, James Cardona's business operating officially licensed 2.0 game kits for classic machines, and recent tournament results from YEGPin 2026 and Silverball Super Showdown 5.

Key Claims

Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball machine will release in 2026, with reveal expected within the month
high confidence · This Week in Pinball article citing Soundbooth Theater's July 7 reel which stated 'The apocalypse will be played 2026' and analysis of evidence pointing to imminent launch
Stern Pinball has hired homebrewer Tanner Petch as a game designer
high confidence · This Week in Pinball article citing LinkedIn profile updates and Instagram messages from Tanner Petch confirming the hire, though noting no official announcement from Stern
Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball is likely being developed by Multimorphic, not Barrels of Fun
medium confidence · This Week in Pinball article citing 'various pinball prognosticators' and noting Multimorphic's recent hiring of Davey Price (Stumblor) and gearing up for launch, though emphasizing uncertainty
Scott Danesi is involved in Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball development
medium confidence · This Week in Pinball article noting Danesi posted a coffee mug photo with DCC character quote, then deleted and reposted with phrase blocked out; article notes he has designed for both Multimorphic and Barrels of Fun
Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball cover art was created by Luciano Fleitas, the book cover artist, who has been working on the project for months
high confidence · This Week in Pinball article documenting Fleitas's Instagram posts dating back to May and June with Photoshop filenames indicating pinball-related work (backbox, translite)
James Cardona's 2.0 kit business involves officially licensed new games coded into classic Bally/Williams machines
high confidence · This Week in Pinball article directly describing Cardona's business model and mentioning his licensing deals with Planetary Pinball and major music labels
Multimorphic recently hired Davey Price (Stumblor) to add custom sculpts to P3 games
high confidence · This Week in Pinball article citing this as a recent move and noting its relevance to a potential DCC machine which would need high-quality sculpts

Notable Quotes

“Y'all pinball folks are very…enthusiastic about this stuff. Please stop asking my family members and neighbors and editors who are making the machine. They don't know.”
Matt @ July 1 (approx.) — Reveals community behavior of aggressively pursuing insider information about unreleased machines, highlighting the intensity of FOMO and speculation in pinball
“The apocalypse will be played 2026.”
[name withheld pending review] @ July 7 — Official tagline confirming Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball release target of 2026, marking acceleration from original early-stage 2027+ timeline
“Everything in pinball is legendary. Work in the industry long enough, you're legendary. Anyone knows your name, you're legendary. It's lazy.”
This Week In Pinball @ Opening editorial — Commentary on overuse of term 'legendary' in pinball discourse, reflecting on industry culture and language
“Going after the book's core audience before the pinball crowd is a smart play. Pinball people will show up regardless.”
This Week In Pinball @ DCC section — Strategic analysis of DCC's marketing approach, noting the unique positioning of teasing through author/artist/narrator rather than manufacturers or pinball media
“It's a very intriguing hire for Stern, who could stand to benefit from his creativity in a similar mold to Jack Danger, assuming he gets the right production support.”
This Week In Pinball @ Stern section — Industry analysis positioning Tanner Petch as a creative talent comparable to Jack Danger, suggesting Stern sees value in homebrew designer sensibilities

Entities

MattpersonLuciano FleitaspersonScott DanesipersonJeff HayspersonTanner PetchpersonDavey PricepersonJames CardonapersonEscher Lefkoffperson

Signals

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machine_intel: Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball development progress leaked through cover artist Luciano Fleitas's Instagram posts with Photoshop filenames indicating backbox and translite artwork dating back to May 2026
high · May post with 'Translite cover' filename; June 18 post with 'wip Glurp! Glurp!' caption and 'Back box left' Photoshop filename; July 1 cabinet art share by Matt Dinniman
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announcement: Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball official reveal expected imminent, likely within the month, with Soundbooth Theater's July 7 post marking first official title graphic and 2026 release confirmation
high · Soundbooth Theater reel on July 7 with 'Dungeon Crawler Carl Pinball' title graphic and 'The apocalypse will be played 2026' tagline
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personnel_signal: Stern Pinball hired notable homebrewer Tanner Petch as game designer, signaling effort to incorporate homebrew creative sensibilities into mainstream production
high · LinkedIn profile updates and Instagram messages confirming hire; article notes comparison to Jack Danger; Tanner known for Trashland and House of Flesh and Blood homebrew creations
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community_signal: Pinball community exhibits aggressive information-seeking behavior regarding unreleased machines, including contacting family members and neighbors of industry figures to extract details
high · Matt Dinniman's July 1 post pleading with community to stop asking family members and neighbors about machine manufacturer; article author acknowledging seeing forum/chat discussions about using personal connections to dig for info
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Transcript

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Song of the Week "The Mud Never Dries", by London's TV Priest, is a true banger. One could say it really slaps. Both are words I gather we're not supposed to use in pinball anymore, but they were the first that came to mind hearing TV Priest's newest single, their first in four years. While we're on words that should be retired in pinball, my personal pet peeve is "legendary." Everything in pinball is legendary. Work in the industry long enough, you're legendary. Anyone knows your name, you're legendary. It's lazy. Four years is a long time and also no time at all. Four years is how long I've been plugging away at Kineticist. Four years is longer than my son has been alive. But four years also feels like only yesterday. When I started down this path I couldn't see more than six months in front of my face. I still can't. Are we legendary yet? An old Pitchfork review of TV Priest's debut, Uppers, said they were "redefining dad-rock." As a dad who likes rock music, and this song, I guess it tracks. I wasn't a dad then. I am now. I grew into it. TV Priest, AC/DC, what's the difference, really. On a long enough timeline it's all dad rock. Even the bangers. Pinball News of the Week A Dungeon Crawler Carl Launch Feels Imminent We told you the Dungeon Crawler Carl license was real back when Matt Dinniman mentioned it on a recent stop on his book tour. What's happened since is arguably more interesting than the confirmation itself. The post that got pinball fans' attention came from Luciano Fleitas, the artist behind the Dungeon Crawler Carl book covers, who also appears to be handling art for the machine. He shared an image captioned "This will look great on a pinball machine, won't it?" But he'd quietly been at it for months. On June 18 he posted an image captioned "wip Glurp! Glurp!", and the only tell that it was pinball-related was the Photoshop filename: "Back box left." Go back further, to May, and there's another image with the filename "Translite cover." That one showed basically nothing, apparently the result of a technical issue, so it would have been almost impossible to catch at the time. Then the bigger names started showing up. On July 1, series author Matt Dinniman shared the cabinet art for the "about-to-be-announced Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball machine coming from redacted." The word "redacted" is his: he blanked out the maker in his own caption, then added an aside: "Y'all pinball folks are very…enthusiastic about this stuff. Please stop asking my family members and neighbors and editors who are making the machine. They don't know." Back when we first published the rumor, I saw people in chat groups and forums talking about how they play leagues and tournaments with people who know Dinniman, and that they'd try to dig for info. I'd like to think that behavior isn't unique to our community, but maybe it is. On July 7, Soundbooth Theater, the audio production company founded by Jeff Hays, who narrates the DCC audiobooks, shared a reel that all but confirmed the machine, and by association, put Hays in the mix on the voices. It was also the first time we got a real title graphic: "Dungeon Crawler Carl Pinball," along with the line "The apocalypse will be played 2026." That last part is the surprise. Based on our initial reporting, DCC pinball looked like an early-stage project we weren't likely to see before 2027. Now, a release feels imminent. So who's making it? We still don't know for sure. Somewhere in the middle of all this, game designer Scott Danesi posted a photo of a coffee mug printed with a famous quote from a notable DCC character, signaling his involvement, then deleted it and reposted a version with the phrase blocked out. Danesi doesn't settle anything: he's designed games for Multimorphic and contributed to Barrels of Fun projects, and signals have pointed at both camps at different times. The teasing itself has come almost entirely from the DCC side of the creative team, the cover artist, the author, the narrator, not the manufacturers or pinball influencers who'd normally break a reveal. Going after the book's core audience before the pinball crowd is a smart play. Pinball people will show up regardless. We do know Multimorphic is gearing up for a launch, based on its last public update and community whispers of an event, and various pinball prognosticators insist it's definitely not Barrels. It also just brought on top modder Davey Price of Stumblor to add custom sculpts to its P3 games, and a theme like DCC would need those to be on point. Either way, we could get a reveal within the month, which is very exciting. Pinball Machine Management for Operators and Collectors Pinventory keeps everything about your machines in one place. Operators track collections, revenue, and audits across their locations, including public QR codes that link to online issue reporting with no app needed. Collectors catalog their whole lineup with full maintenance history, parts, and manuals on hand. Every machine, repair, and number lives in one place instead of scattered notes and spreadsheets. Your data stays private and secure, visible only to you and the people you invite. Built by Ed Giardina, creator of the IFPA Companion App. Free to use. Stern Hires Homebrewer Tanner Petch Word is Stern Pinball has hired notable homebrewer Tanner Petch as their newest game designer. No official announcement, but based on updates to his LinkedIn profile and messages shared to his personal Instagram, it's a done deal. Tanner is probably best known for his artistic homebrew creations, like Trashland and House of Flesh and Blood, and as a sometime collaborator with Nudge Magazine. As a bonus, here’s a previously “lost” (offline) interview with Tanner Petch from 2023 with Dan Rosenstein. It's a very intriguing hire for Stern, who could stand to benefit from his creativity in a similar mold to Jack Danger, assuming he gets the right production support. Congrats to both! 'Creators Gotta Create': James Cardona on the Business of Pinball 2.0 Kits James Cardona builds officially licensed 2.0 game kits: full new games coded into classic Bally/Williams machines like Fish Tales, with the original still playable underneath. I had a chance to chat with him on his background and the business of it all, which is fascinating. He touches on his licensing deals with Planetary Pinball, major music labels, how he thinks about story development in pinball, and plenty more. The Score Card 16: Flipping Up North and a Super Showdown Matt Owen is back with Score Card 16, covering two Stern Pro Circuit stops. At YEGPin 2026 in Alberta (290-plus players), Escher Lefkoff ran away with the Open, taking walk-off wins in the first three grand-finals games (AC/DC, Eight Ball Deluxe, Foo Fighters), which was all it took to lock the title. Outside Chicago, Silverball Super Showdown 5 joined the circuit this year on a Target Match Play qualifying format, and Carlos DeLaSerda went back-to-back to win the A Division. Matt has the full cards. The Full Story of Williams' Tales of the Arabian Nights Pinball Pedretti's remake put the 1996 Williams original back in the conversation right as it hits its 30th anniversary, and solar_espeon took the moment for the full rundown: the history of Popadiuk's game plus a proper how-to-play, from the seven story modes to the Rescue the Princess wizard mode. There's even a likely bug "Harem-Genie stack" that spins up basically unlimited scoring, if you can pull it off.