We are proud to announce the 2025–26 IFPA Women’s European Championship Series, a new initiative designed to recognize and promote women’s participation in competitive pinball across Europe.

For the inaugural season, the IFPA will track Women’s World Pinball Player Ranking (WWPPR) performance based on the results from all women’s events held across Europe from January 1 – December 31, 2025 (with the exception of closed women’s national championships). At the end of that qualifying period, the top 16 players with the most WWPPR points from these events will qualify for the IFPA Women’s European Pinball Championship.

That championship will be held in the first quarter of 2026, with additional details provided closer to the end of the qualifying season. In the meantime, more information is available on the IFPA Women’s European Championship Series event page.

As a reminder, there are currently no IFPA sanctioning fees for women’s events in Europe. Anyone who has questions about organizing women’s events is encouraged to reach out to the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board at ifpawomen@gmail.com.

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Here are the November 2024 IFPA winners for Player of the Month and Biggest Movers:

Player of the Month:
Timber Engelbeen from Nazareth, Belgium (351.75 WPPR’s – MAIN)
Rachel Karlic from Chicago, IL (80.63 WPPR’s – WOMEN’S)

Biggest Movers:
Brandon Boltz from Toledo, OH (+44,724 spots)
Robban Petersson from Sweden (+32,155 spots)
Joshua Swanton from Edenton, NC (+25,567 spots)

These players have now all qualified for the Stern Rewards Program for 2024. Congrats to everyone!

The IFPA is proud to announce that registration for the 9th annual IFPA European Pinball Championship is now open! Registration closes January 17. For more details check out the registration page here.

Should you have any questions about our qualifying process or to find out more information about the tournament, please contact the IFPA at ifpaeurope@gmail.com

Our host will be WCPP in Middelkerke, Belgium.

More informations, the current standings and the ECS schedule HERE.

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The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, home of the World Video Game Hall of Fame, recently received a donated collection of materials from the family of Steve Epstein (1948-2020), longtime owner of the famed Broadway Arcade in New York City. The materials include his professional papers related to Broadway Arcade, the Professional & Amateur Pinball Association (PAPA), and unreleased arcade games that he worked on through the years.

“Steve Epstein was an icon in the pinball and arcade communities,” says Jeremy K. Saucier, assistant vice president for electronic games and interpretation at The Strong. “The Broadway Arcade became a coin-operated mecca during the 1980s under his second-generation ownership. Following the legalization of pinball in NYC in 1976, Epstein attracted New Yorkers from all backgrounds to his midtown Manhattan location, including Columbia Records executive John Hammond, and musicians Lou Reed, Diana Ross, and Paul Schafer. We’re proud to be able to tell this important story.”

The full release can be read HERE.

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Modern Meets Nostalgia with the Release of Classics From the Golden Age of Pinball 

San Francisco, CA (December 12, 2024) — Zen Studios — the leading global producer and publisher of digital pinball video games — in partnership with Williams Electronics Games Inc. © have announced that the Williams™ Pinball Volume 8 DLC pack is available now for Pinball FX. Pinball fanatics can now take on classic Williams™ tables Earthshaker!™, Banzai Run™, and the recently revealed Black Knight 2000 on PC and consoles!

Watch the Williams™ Pinball Volume 8 launch trailer here:

YouTube | Download

Today, fans can showcase their pinball prowess with Pinball FX’s most nostalgic DLC to date! Included in the Williams™ Pinball Volume 8 DLC pack is Earthshaker!™ — a seismic classic from 1989 known for its groundbreaking features and earthquake-themed gameplay. In the second retro table, Banzai Run™, players take on the ultimate motocross challenge and conquer the king of the hill to claim the top spot. The third table, Black Knight 2000, launches players straight back into the ‘90s while introducing an all-new, all-digital, unsurpassed sound system and stylized, electrifying graphics. A timeless pinball experience awaits!

Pinball FX’s Williams™ Pinball Volume 8 Key Features:

• Nostalgia meets thrilling gameplay with each new legendary table!
• Get ready to feel the ground shake, rumble, and roar as you chase high scores through these three Williams™ masterpieces
• In Earthshaker!™, you’ll experience the seismic excitement as the earth trembles beneath your flippers! Get ready to immerse yourself in this beloved table, which will bring hours of retro fun
• First released in 1988, Banzai Run™ is back and better than ever in this modern take to overthrow the king of the hill to become number one in an exciting daredevil motocross race
• Black Knight 2000 is a fast-paced, visually aggressive tribute to the ‘90s era of intense pinball action, featuring original music to create a powerhouse of dynamic sound

To coincide with the release of Williams™ Pinball Volume 8, Zen Studios has also launched a Williams™ Pinball legacy content update for the Nintendo Switch version of Pinball FX. For the first time, Williams™ Pinball Volumes 1-3 and the Williams Pinball: Universal Monsters Pack are now available in Pinball FX. Better yet, existing owners of Williams™ Pinball Volumes 1-3 and the Williams Pinball: Universal Monsters Pack for 2017’s Pinball FX3 can access the content in Pinball FX at no additional cost on Nintendo Switch. This marks a significant step in Zen Studios’ goal to enable content ownership compatibility for its legacy pinball titles wherever and whenever possible in the future. For more information about the Williams™ Pinball legacy content update for Nintendo Switch, please visit this page. 

Pinball FX delivers the ultimate at-home pinball experience with customizable gameplay modifiers and personalization options. Immerse yourself in meticulously recreated classics with Williams™ Pinball Volume 8, explore Zen’s original designs, or relive legendary moments from beloved films, TV shows, and video games. With over 120 tables available, Pinball FX showcases iconic properties from entertainment giants like Disney, Legendary, Lucasfilm, Marvel Entertainment, NBC Universal, and Paramount Pictures.

With over 2 million players, Pinball FX continues to showcase its commitment to providing the ultimate pinball experience with innovative gameplay modifiers and extensive customization options. Enjoy accurate re-creations of the most famous pinball machines of all time with Williams Pinball, have fun with Zen’s original creations, or relive the most iconic moments from popular films, television, and video games.

Pinball FX is free to download for Windows PC via Steam (and is Steam Deck Playable), the Epic Games Store and on PlayStation 4|5, Xbox One and Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

Williams™ Pinball Volume 8 is available now as paid DLC for Pinball FX across all available platforms for $14.99. 

A press kit, including logos, screenshots, key art, and trailers, is available here: https://uberstrategist.link/PressKit-Zen-Studios.

To stay up-to-date with Zen Studios, follow on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube, and join the community on Discord and Reddit.

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New Free-to-Play Mobile Title Featuring Fan Favorite Tables from Zen Studios — Creators of Zen Pinball, Pinball FX, and Pinball M

San Francisco, CA (December 12, 2024) — Zen Studios — the leading global producer and publisher of digital pinball video games — today released its newest original title, Zen Pinball World. A successor to previous Zen Pinball mobile games, this easy-to-learn, modern take allows players to carry their favorite pinball tables conveniently in their pockets.

Check out the Zen Pinball World Launch Trailer:

YouTube | Download

Drawing on its legacy of excellence through long-standing titles like Zen Pinball (which has amassed over ten million downloads in its lifetime), Pinball FX (which recently celebrated over two million players), and the horror-centric Pinball M, Zen Studios continues innovating through its latest pinball title, Zen Pinball World. 

In the next evolution of pinball mastery from Zen Studios, Zen Pinball World features unique gameplay modifiers and customization options as well as tables based on some of the biggest hits in entertainment, like South Park™ Pinball, Knight Rider Pinball, Battlestar Galactica Pinball, along with timeless Williams™ classics and many more. Additionally, Zen Pinball World will regularly add even more content to enjoy!

Zen Pinball World’s Key Features:

• Classic single-player pinball gameplay with various challenge modes
• Online worldwide & regional leaderboards on which to prove your pinball prowess
• Customizable player profile backgrounds and unique mastery rewards to showcase
• More than 20 tables based on some of the biggest brands in entertainment
• Additional tables to be added in future expansions

Are you ready to become a pinball wizard? 

Zen Pinball World is free to download for Android and iOS devices via Google Play and the Apple App Store. 

Over two dozen individual DLC table packs and bundles — including Universal Pinball: TV Classics, Williams™ Pinball Premium Bundle, Gearbox® Pinball, The Princess Bride Pinball, Goat Simulator Pinball, and Camp Bloodbrook — are available at launch, starting at $4.99.

A press kit, including logos, screenshots, key art, and trailers, is available here: https://uberstrategist.link/PressKit-Zen-Studios.

To stay up-to-date with Zen Studios, follow on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube, and join the community on Discord and Reddit.

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The 2025 WPPR Chopper is moving locations, adding a NIB Stern giveaway and changing up the tournament format.

As we come to the end of another year, the 2024 season brings the changeover to our WPPR v6.1 system. Details on the WPPR v6.1 changes can be found HERE.

In order to close the books on 2024, we ask any organizer with open tournament results to submit those to us by Saturday, January 4th. Furthermore, any corrections to player misspellings, incorrect results, improper scoring issues, etc., need to be addressed by January 4th as well. Please take some time to review your own personal results to see if anything looks out of place.

Our plan is to lock down 2024 rankings on January 4th, and use the standings at that time for any IFPA-related campaigns (IFPA20 World Championship qualifications, IFPA Women’s World Championship, Stern Rewards Program, Player of the Year, etc.). Any errors caught after that point in time will NOT impact the 2024 standings, although those changes will be reflected in the 2025 rankings going forward.

The 2025 season brings with it the start of qualifying for the following IFPA campaigns:
– IFPA North American Championship Series
– IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series
– IFPA European Championship Series
– any IFPA Country Championship Series
– IFPA21 World Pinball Championship
– IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship
– Stern Pro Circuit (2025 season)

Any questions please contact us at ifpapinball@gmail.com, and remember that if your profile doesn’t say ‘Registered’ with a green check mark, that we do NOT have your email address on file. Players that don’t have their profile ‘Registered’ are ineligible to participate in any IFPA Championship Series.

With the North American Championship Series (NACS) and Women’s North American Championship Series (WNACS) planned for January 18th and 19th, 2025 respectively, registration process is going to be fast. Players will have until the end of January 7th, 8pm CST to declare the State/Province they wish to compete in. Contact your IFPA State Representative to make sure you are registered for the state you wish to play in. Contact the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board at ifpawomen@gmail.com for questions on the WNACS.