Pinball has actually benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to major US TV channel FOX Business.
The channel said that people are seeking more non-conventional forms of entertainment at home and pinball is proving to be one of them. The reduction in traditional forms of expenditure has left many with extra resources and now pinball machine sales are replacing items such as travel and dining out.
It quotes Stern Pinball as a source of information on the upswing in the game’s popularity and states that it has grown five-fold during the pandemic and currently has a backlog of orders of record dimensions.
Dave Peterson, vice chairman at Stern, is quoted: “It is a challenge to entertain everyone when your options of going out have been removed. People quarantined at home are looking to entertain their families and pinball is a terrific way to do that. Now our real challenge as a company, is to scale up our manufacturing in order to work off those backlogs and meet that demand.”
Recent titles such as Avengers Infinity Quest and TMNT are flying out of the doors at Stern. But at the operator end of the market the closing of restaurants, bars and arcades had suffered, reports Peterson.
