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Here are the March 2023 IFPA winners for Player of the Month and Biggest Movers:

Player of the Month:
Escher Lefkoff from Colorado (352.98 WPPR’s – MAIN)
Keri Wing from Overland Park, KS (191.95 WPPR’s – WOMEN’S)

Biggest Movers:
Katie Moran from Pittsburgh, PA (+17,148 spots)
Korey Burns from Arizona (+16,985 spots)
Chris Clarkson from Fort Wayne, IN (+15,278 spots)

These players have now all qualified for the Stern Rewards Program for 2023. Congrats to everyone!

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Zen Studios Brings Five New Licensed IP Pinball Tables to the Pinball FX Platform
This April, Available Wherever You Enjoy Pinball FX.

Zen Studios, the makers of the Pinball FX franchise, announced today that the new, highly anticipated Pinball FX platform is coming to Steam on April 13, 2023. The Steam launch includes a robust library of over 100 pinball tables, featuring an assortment of brand new table releases, including Crypt of the NecroDancer, Williams Twilight Zone, and the Godzilla vs Kong Pinball pack which includes three monstrous tables such as Godzilla Pinball, Kong Pinball, and Godzilla vs Kong Pinball.

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Crypt of the NecroDancer Pinball

Challenge your skills in the pinball and rhythm fusion table, Crypt of the NecroDancer. This table captures the wacky atmosphere and killer soundtrack of the acclaimed rogue-like game. Stop the NecroDancer once more, as you use your flippers to battle bosses and acquire the
Golden Lute.

Williams Pinball: Twilight Zone

You just crossed over… into the Twilight Zone with a pinball that isn’t, and flippers that aren’t. Keep telling yourself it’s only a game as you earn highscores that are from another dimension with this classic joining the Pinball FX library.

Godzilla vs Kong Pinball Pack

Godzilla and Kong unleash their powers in the epic pinball pack, Godzilla vs Kong. Play three monstrous tables including Kong Pinball, Godzilla Pinball and Godzilla vs Kong Pinball and be the king of the leaderboards.

The Crypt of the NecroDancer, the Twilight Zone, and the Godzilla vs Kong table pack are also simultaneously releasing on Pinball FX for PlayStation, Xbox, and the Epic Game Store on April 13, 2023. In addition to these new tables, players across all Pinball FX platforms will now have access not just one, but three pinball tables available for free download: Williams’ Fish Tales™, and Zen originals Sorcerer’s Lair, and Wild West Rampage.

That’s not all! Zen Studios is thrilled to announce that the Marvel Pinball Collection 2 will also be available for on Steam and everywhere players enjoy Pinball FX. This collection features a library of 12 tables inspired by Marvel’s iconic characters and storylines. Fans of the Marvel universe will be delighted to find beloved tables such as Deadpool, Civil War, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and many more.

It’s been quite a journey to get Pinball FX to Steam, so today we are celebrating its availability to some of our most passionate players,” said Mel Kirk, COO at Zen Studios. “I am really happy that we were able to get the Cabinet Mode in great shape, and look forward to more updates in the near future to keep Pinball FX cabinet experience the best in digital pinball.”

Gamers looking to enjoy Pinball FX tables can subscribe to Pinball Pass for $14.99 per month, which offers unlimited access to almost 80 tables in the Pinball FX library. Pinball FX is expected to release for Nintendo Switch in July of this year.

For more information, visit www.pinballfx.com.

Stern has updated some allocation numbers for the Stern Rewards Program going into the second quarter of production for 2023. Please see the list below for games that are available through the program:

• James Bond Pro (2 more available for scheduled May 2023 production run)
• Avengers Premium (4 more available for scheduled June 2023 production run)
• Avengers Pro (4 more available for scheduled June 2023 production run)
• Jurassic Park Premium (1 more available for scheduled June 2023 production run)
• Jurassic Park Pro (3 more available for scheduled August 2023 production run)
• Deadpool Premium (1 more available for scheduled July 2023 production run)
• Deadpool Pro (2 more available for scheduled July 2023 production run)
• Iron Maiden Pro (1 more available for scheduled May 2023 production run)

Detailed rules for the $tern Rewards Program, including an updated list of qualifiers, and updated list of rewards available can be found HERE.

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The IFPA is excited to announce our 2024 plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pulp Fiction!

Pulp Fiction is a retro-inspired full-featured modern pinball machine. Developed at the request of Quentin Tarantino who wanted an 1980’s style Pulp Fiction themed pinball machine for his home. Tarantino’s continued involvement throughout the project shaped the final game. Tarantino rarely licenses his intellectual property, it is a unique privilege to produce a game which pays tribute to this masterpiece.

Legendary pinball designer Mark Ritchie masterfully crafted a playfield which on its surface appears comparable to games from this era but outside of initial perception features more mechanisms and greater depth than most games produced today. David Thiel forcefully pulls the player into this world utilizing over 250 iconic lines from Pulp Fiction’s legendary cast, five licensed songs from the original movie soundtrack, and a number of original compositions. Josh Sharpe developed an approachable rule set that is both intuitive and deep enough to engage even the most skilled player. Scott Pikulski’s vintage inspired art package is both stunning and perfectly cohesive.

The game was developed in a collaboration between Play Mechanix and Chicago Gaming Company.

As part of this 30th anniversary celebration any IFPA sanctioned tournament or league that is organized during 2024 that use Pulp Fiction Pinball in the event will receive a 30% WPPR point boost to the overall value of the event. This boost will be in addition to any other boosts related to the format of the event itself.

Click HERE to find a Chicago Gaming Company dealer near you and get your Pulp Fiction on order!

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April 2nd update . . .

This was an April’s Fools joke . . . but a great chance to plug a game I’m really excited about 🙂

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This past weekend, the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board and a team of volunteers worked together to put on the inaugural standalone Women’s World Championship. 32 of the top women competitors based on both open and women’s-only standings and hailing from all over the world came together in Schaumburg, Illinois, to compete across two days and crown a new Women’s World Pinball Champion. After a full day of qualifying that consisted of 4-player groups competing for 8 rounds of 3-game matches, the top 16 moved on to a head-to-head single-elimination best-of-7 bracket.

A huge congratulations to Keri Wing from Kansas, who won her second championship and the title of 2023 IFPA Women’s World Pinball Champion. She played phenomenally all weekend, qualifying as 3rd seed and receiving 2 byes going into Sunday’s head-to-head matches. She went on to knock out fellow former Women’s World Pinball Champions Karyn Kiser and Sunshine Bon, ending with an exciting finals match against Leslie Ruckman, who is currently based in California.

The highest-placing finisher also wins a spot at the IFPA18 World Pinball Championship, as well as a reserved spot at the European Pinball Championship, with both events taking place over back-to-back weekends in Germany later this year. With Keri having already accepted an invitation to those events due to her world ranking, Leslie can instead claim those spots.

Sunshine Bon and Kaylee Campbell rounded out the top 4 by taking 3rd and 4th place, respectively, after incredibly strong play throughout the championship. Congrats to the top 4, and thank you to all the competitors who helped make the event a success.

None of this would have been possible without the tireless efforts of Michael Benjamin and his team at Enterrium, the Chicago pinball community (especially Erin Seiden of Chicagoland Belles & Chimes and Rachel Karlic of Chicago Belles & Chimes), Andy Bagwell (our intrepid assistant TD), and our two tireless techs Gavin Miller (Gavin’s Games) and Brad Smith (Bound by Gravity Pinball), who not only brought in their own personal machines but dedicated their weekends to be there all day Saturday and Sunday. We were proud for this weekend to be broadcasted live by none other than the strong group of ladies at Hot Nudge and their team, and we want to extend a big thank you to Jack Danger of Dead Flip for donating his streaming equipment for the weekend. We also appreciate our sponsors, whose contributions led to a prize pool valued at over $11,000.

We look forward to next year’s event! More information on dates and location will be coming soon.

Follow along this weekend as 32 of the top women worldwide play for the title of the 2023 Women’s World Champion and a New-In-Box Stern Pinball Machine!

Saturday Matchplay Qualifying Link: https://next.matchplay.events/tournaments/97989

The event will be broadcasted live Saturday and Sunday courtesy of Hot Nudge with hosts Rebecca, Anna and Jane, who are part of the 32 players! Please give them a round of bits, subs and follows for them hosting this premier event while competing! Sunday Finals bracket and standings will be available on Hot Nudge’s Stream.

Tune in to the action here: https://www.twitch.tv/hotnudge