Steve Kordek, widely regarded as the man who transformed the pinball machine in the US, has died aged 100.

Kordek, who passed away on February 19, designed more than 100 pinball games for the likes of Genco, Williams and Bally during his six decades in the coin-op amusement industry and in pinball circles became a legend.

Commenting on the news, LAI Games’ chairman Malcolm Steinberg said: “I first met Steve in 1970 at the Williams headquarters. I was there for a meeting with Sam Stern (Gary Stern's father) to try and get distribution rights for Williams games in Australia. Steve was the designer of a single-player pinball game called Doodlebug, which turned out to be the first Williams pinball that we distributed in Australia.

“Steve was responsible for many innovations in the pinball industry. These included twin flippers at the bottom of the playfield, drop targets in 1962 and multi-ball in 1963. Even after his retirement, he remained active in the industry and was responsible for forming the Century Club for old-timers in the industry like me. We met at least once a year at industry trade shows in the US.

“Steve Kordek will be remembered as one of the great icons of our industry and may he rest in peace knowing the great contribution he has made.”

Funeral services for Steven Kordek will be provided by Colonial Wojciechowski Funeral Home at 6250 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60646; tel. +1 773 774 0366. A visitation is scheduled for February 22, followed by a funeral service on February 23. He will be interred at St Adalbert Catholic Cemetery.