RUMORS! What Games Are in the Pipeline and When Will We See Them?

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Mar 13, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Comprehensive pinball pipeline rumors covering JJP, Stern, Spooky, and other manufacturers' upcoming 2026-2028 releases.

Summary

Knapp Arcade publishes a comprehensive rumors article covering the pinball industry pipeline as of March 2026. Key claims include Jersey Jack Pinball working on Sonic the Hedgehog (high confidence) and speculative titles like Fast and Furious and Minions; Stern's confirmed Pokémon release, upcoming Transformers and Fallout, and rumored AC/DC and KISS remasters; Spooky's upcoming Goonies reveal and future Gremlins title; and various other manufacturer projects from American Pinball, Chicago Gaming, Dutch Pinball, Barrels of Fun, and smaller makers. The author distinguishes between high-confidence rumors (nearly certain) and speculative ones (unverified hearsay).

Key Claims

Jersey Jack Pinball is working on Sonic the Hedgehog from Steve Ritchie (next game after current release)
high confidence · Knapp Arcade author describes this as 'almost certainly true' and among the most reliable rumors, contrasting with less certain FNF speculation
Jersey Jack may have licensing for Fast and the Furious and Despicable Me/Minions after Sonic
low confidence · Author explicitly states 'I don't have massive confidence in FNF and Minions yet, but the talk is out there for sure' and only heard FNF from one source
Jersey Jack Matrix and Ghostbusters remakes are not happening
high confidence · Author states directly: 'The rumor that JJP is remaking Ghostbusters was garbage. It's not true. The long-rumored JJP Matrix isn't happening either.'
Pedretti (Play Mechanix) is remaking Tales of the Arabian Nights (TOTAN) and has Theatre of Magic in development
high confidence · Author describes TOTAN as 'nearly ready' with possible Texas Pinball Festival reveal; Theatre expected mid-2026
American Pinball is remaking Cirqus Voltaire as their first game under new regime
medium confidence · Author states work is 'well underway' but unsure of reveal timing; AP will have strong TPF presence but reveal may be early
American Pinball has two licensed games in development (one movie, one band) plus possibly a third through new hire
medium confidence · Author feels 'pretty good' about the two licenses but provides no specific IP names
Stern's Pokémon is now out; Transformers (Elliot Eisman) and Fallout (Keith Elwin) are next
high confidence · Author states Pokémon is 'pretty much confirmed' and these are described as confirmed follow-ups
Stern is remaking AC/DC (2012) and KISS (2015)
high confidence · Author states 'I am pretty darn sure' about KISS and references AC/DC from 'leaked titles that pretty much all have come to fruition'

Notable Quotes

“The rumor that JJP is remaking Ghostbusters was garbage. It's not true. The long-rumored JJP Matrix isn't happening either.”
Knapp Arcade author @ N/A — Definitively debunks two long-standing rumors about Jersey Jack Pinball projects
“I am pretty confident about that, so much so that I'm already on a list for it.”
Knapp Arcade author @ N/A — Personal commitment signal indicating high confidence in Spooky's Goonies reveal
“Beyond the CV remake, American Pinball has two licensed games in the works right now, one of which is a movie and the other a band.”
Knapp Arcade author @ N/A — Hints at unconfirmed American Pinball projects with specific categorization (movie vs band license)
“Chicago Gaming Company (CGC) continues to be the slowest manufacturer in the World.”
Knapp Arcade author @ N/A — Direct editorial commentary on manufacturer production speed and reliability concerns
“Man that really sounds like the FUTURE doesn't it?”
Knapp Arcade author @ N/A — Meta-commentary on the extended timeline for upcoming Spooky projects extending into 2027-2028

Entities

Jersey Jack PinballcompanyStern PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyAmerican Pinballcompany Chicago Gaming CompanycompanyPlay MechanixcompanyDutch Pinballcompany Barrels of Funcompany

Signals

?
rumor_hype: Comprehensive analysis of unreleased pinball games across major manufacturers with varying confidence levels
high · Multiple game titles and manufacturers discussed with explicit confidence calibration from author (high vs low certainty)
?
machine_intel: Sonic the Hedgehog from Jersey Jack confirmed as next release; Fast and Furious and Minions speculated as future titles
high · Author distinguishes Sonic as 'almost certainly true' vs FNF as single-source rumor with low confidence
?
announcement: Multiple game reveals expected at Texas Pinball Festival March 20-22, 2026; Spooky's Goonies reveal planned for late 2026
high · Specific dates and venues mentioned; author notes HEXA Pinball Three Musketeers reveal scheduled for TPF at 4:00 PM March 20
?
product_strategy: Industry-wide trend of remaking classic games; Play Mechanix (Tales of Arabian Nights, Theatre of Magic), American Pinball (Cirqus Voltaire), Stern (AC/DC, KISS)
high · Multiple manufacturers across high-confidence rumors show remake focus; Play Mechanix specifically preparing two remakes
?
licensing_signal: Major IP licensing activity: Jersey Jack potentially acquiring Fast and Furious and Despicable Me; American Pinball securing unspecified movie and band licenses
medium · Author notes FNF rumors from single source only; American Pinball licenses confirmed but details withheld
?

Topics

Pinball game pipeline and future releasesprimaryManufacturer production timelines and capacityprimaryLicensed IP acquisition and theme selectionprimaryGame remakes and restorations of classic titlesprimaryTexas Pinball Festival announcements and revealssecondaryRumor sourcing and confidence assessmentsecondaryDesigner assignments and creative team changessecondaryPinball industry gossip and community speculationsecondary

Sentiment

neutral(0)

Transcript

web_scrape · $0.000

News RUMORS! What Games Are in the Pipeline and When Will We See Them? k knapparcade March 13, 2026 As I mentioned yesterday, things were pretty quiet in the pinball and arcade hobbies to start the week. I hate going more than a day or two without a new article so I started digging. That resulted in two interesting new articles yesterday AND one of my infamous Rumors articles today :). Let's start with a big one that I have only heard one place and have no idea whether it is correct. This is a true "Rumor" rumor rather than some of the other ones that I am going to talk about later that are almost certainly happening. I recently heard that Jersey Jack Pinball has a pin based on the massive ten-movie franchise "The Fast and the Furious" (FNF) in the works. FNF movies have grossed over $7 BILLION in the theaters, making it one of the Top 10 highest grossing movie franchises in history. It's big. Bigger than I initially thoughts when I heard this rumor. Is a JJP FNF pin definitely happening? I don't know, but to me it's very believable. I specifically heard that it is coming after JJP's strongly rumored next game (one of those almost certainly true rumors) Sonic the Hedgehog from Steve Ritchie. I've also heard that Jersey Jack may have the license for Despicable Me / Minions. I've been listening closely for JJP rumors about what is coming after Sonic and these are the only two themes that I've heard anything about. I don't have massive confidence in FNF and Minions yet, but the talk is out there for sure. The rumor that JJP is remaking Ghostbusters was garbage. It's not true. The long-rumored JJP Matrix isn't happening either. Let's talk about some more certain "rumors" now. I have heard that Pedretti's next remake, the 1996 Williams game Tales of the Arabian Nights (TOTAN) is nearly ready. It is ready enough to show off at next week's Texas Pinball Festival, though a reveal at TPF is far from certain. Next up after TOTAN for Pedretti is a remake of the 1995 Bally pin Theatre of Magic. I personally absolutely LOVE both of these games. They are definitely two of my favorite 90s games. With Pedretti's new and improved coding team in place I can't wait to see what they do with them. Expect to see Theatre revealed sometime mid-2026. While we are talking about remakes, the rumor about the first game from the new and improved American Pinball is that they are doing a remake of the 1997 Bally pin Cirqus Voltaire (CV). Work on that game is well underway, though I don't know when we will get to see it. AP will have a very strong presence at the Texas Pinball Festival, but to me it feels a little early for us to see its first game under the new regeime. Beyond the CV remake, American Pinball has two licensed games in the works right now, one of which is a movie and the other a band. I don't know any more than that about them, but I feel pretty good that at least that is correct. I recently heard that AP may have added a third pin in development to those two through the addition of a new employee. Any discussion of rumors has to include the Big Dog, Stern Pinball. The long-rumored Pokémon pin is now out. It has been pretty much confirmed that a cartoon Transformers by Elliot Elliot Eismin is next followed by Fallout by Keith Elwin and his crew. Somewhere in there we likely will see another "Remastered" stern game. The long-standing remastered rumor that was part of a list of leaked titles that pretty much all have come to fruition at this point is that Stern is remaking its 2012 game AC/DC. I am pretty darn sure that a remake of Stern's 2015 game KISS is coming. A few months ago, I wrote that KISS is next. I don't know for sure that is the case. If AD/DC is true, it may be it next then KISS. Next up is Spooky Pinball. The Spooky folks are going to have their hands full building the sold out Beetlejuice game for the rest of 2026. Its normal reveal cadence is to show off its next game late in the year, November or December. This year's reveal will likely be a pin based on the 1985 film The Goonies. I am pretty confident about that, so much so that I'm already on a list for it. After that, Spooky's next big game is likely based on the 1984 film Gremlins and possibly its sequels. At that point we're talking about a 2027 announcement and 2028 production. Man that really sounds like the FUTURE doesn't it? I have heard that Spooky may sneak a small production run of the Motörhead pinball machine that they helped David Peck create a couple of years ago somewhere in that mix. ![Advertisement](https://sternpinball.com/) Who else is left? Chicago Gaming Company (CGC) continues to be the slowest manufacturer in the World. Play Mechanix's Halo pin, designed by Mark Ritchie, is definitely coming at some point. I heard a while ago that they were trying to have it ready by this year's Pinball Expo in October, but knowing what I do about them it wouldn't surprise me at all if CGC misses that date. Dutch Pinball rivals CGC in the slow department. They continue to work on Back to the Future. I have no idea if we will see it in 2026. Something awesome is coming from Turner Pinball fairly soon. Barrels of Fun sure keeps a good secret. There has been some talk that its next game may be based on the 1984 film The Neverending Story. I have no idea if that's true though. Another possibility from Barrels is a pin based on the 1986 Kurt Russell film Big Trouble in Little China. Barrels has been mentioned in rumors about that theme for a while now and a recent hire lends credibility to it. The book series Dungeon Crawler Carl is also a possibility for Barrels down the road. With Dune production pretty much done and the company cranking out a fairly small run of Winchester Mystery Houses we will almost certainly see Barrels' next game this year, perhaps as early as June? HEXA Pinball's next game, The Three Musketeers will be revealed at the Texas Pinball Festival on Friday March 20th at 4:00 PM local time. Pinball Brothers is ceasing orders for its current game Predator on March 31st, so its next game should be right around the corner. I have no idea what it is. I expect it to be another 80s action movie theme, but that is just speculation. I don't think that I have heard any rumors about what Multimorphic is working on for its game after Portal. Wow, so much awesome stuff is in the pipeline! I think that's all of the rumors I have at the moment. Have you heard any? If so, shoot me an e-mail at knapparcade@gmail.com or send me a DM on Facebook / Instagram. I love to talk about this stuff and always appreciate people sending stuff my way :) New sponsor slot Your sponsored ad here Be the first to claim this placement. Contact knapparcade@gmail.com today Posted 31 minutes ago k About knapparcade Site administrator Comments (0) Please sign in to join the conversation. No comments yet Be the first to share your thoughts on this post! Related Articles RUMORS! What Games Are in the Pipeline and When Will We See Them? 31 minutes ago Spooky Pinball Buys the Rights to Jump In the Line for Beetlejuice; Wonderland Amusements Home Pin Videos; The History of Australian Pinball about 20 hours ago American Pinball Announces New Team Members, Partnership with The Electric Playground about 23 hours ago Subscribe to Updates Get the latest pinball news, blog posts, and event announcements delivered to your inbox Subscribe ![Advertisement](https://sternpinball.com/) New sponsor slot Your sponsored ad here Be the first to claim this placement. Contact knapparcade@gmail.com today StripeM-Inner