Fast forward to today and I just got off the telephone with American Pinball's new owner Bryan Vincent. For the past several weeks, I have been seeing Help Wanted ads and talk from American Pinball that a new game was coming. For the life of me, I couldn't comprehend how that was going to happen. Now I know and it is indeed happening.
Bryan is a self-made entrepreneur (my description) who sold his highly successful U.S.-based LED business several years ago. He has a long-standing love for pinball, going back to when he was in grad school and he and his wife used to go out to a local mini-golf location as a form of cheap entertainment. Admission to the location included game tokens, which he and his wife used to play and fall in love with an Addams Family pinball machine.
Flash forward to today and Bryan now owns his very own Addams Family and over 40 other pinball machines. After selling his business, he was looking for a way to get more involved in the pinball hobby. He considered becoming a distributor, but his passion for building businesses and past success in manufacturing eventually led him to American Pinball and his purchase of the company.
Naturally, lots of questions arose when news of this deal broke. Hopefully I can answer at least some of those for everyone now. First and foremost, after some deliberation Bryan has decided to keep the American Pinball name.
There had been some speculation that the new owner might move the company to Texas, but it is staying in its current Palatine, Illinois factory. Bryan bought the American Pinball (AP) assets and Intellectual Property from Aimtron and is leasing the existing facility from them. Aimtron will no longer have any involvement in the operation of AP.
That factory currently has Houdini, Legend of Valhalla and Hot Wheels on the production line. The Hot Wheels license is coming to an end soon. The New American Pinball's first game aka Game 1 is already in the works. Bryan wasn't able to tell me a lot about AP's next game yet for obvious reasons but I got the impression that it was already nearly complete when this deal was announced.
Bryan is in Illinois right now interviewing new employees and working on getting the new AP up and running. He is focusing on making sure that American Pinball has exceptional customer service and that the phone is always answered when people call. One of his first orders of business will be to get a code update out for Galactic Tank Force. Even though it wasn't a game designed under his regime Bryan feels as though it is important for AP to stand behind its current and past products.
They have secured a 20 x 30 booth at the upcoming Texas Pinball Festival (March 20 - 22 in Frisco, TX) and are looking forward to meeting with the pinball community.
I get the impression that American Pinball's new ownership has deep pockets and that they want to make sure that the company has everything that it needs to succeed. This buyout wasn't done by some sort of faceless Private Equity firm as some have speculated, but rather a person who is passionate about the hobby and seems determined to be successful.
So what can we expect from American Pinball in the future? Bryan hopes to launch both Games 1 and 2 under his version of the Company in 2026. No these games aren't the much talked-about American Pinball licensed theme that never saw the light of day. They are completely new creations. AP plans to focus on bringing licensed themes to the market.
AP's goal is to launch 3 to 4 titles by the end of 2027, at a cadence of two or so per year consisting of 2,000 to 3,000 units.
Look for lots of announcements from the new American Pinball throughout 2026 as Bryan implements his vision for the organization. I am super excited to see what they have in store for us. 2026 is going to be an awesome year for pinball!
