{"id":39187,"date":"2026-02-13T17:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T17:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=39187"},"modified":"2026-02-14T00:22:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T00:22:21","slug":"pokemon-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2026\/02\/13\/pokemon-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"POK\u00c9MON REVEALED"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a delay while awaiting licensor approval, Stern Pinball today finally launched their first ‘cornerstone’ title of 2026 with the reveal of their Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> is based on the huge global game brand created by Game Freaks in Japan, encompassing console games, mobile games, comics, movies, animated TV series, trading cards and a multitude of assorted merchandise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pok\u00e9mon world (an abbreviation of Pocket Monsters) first appeared on 27th February, 1996 in two games – Pok\u00e9mon Red Version<\/em> and Pok\u00e9mon Green Version<\/em> – released for the Nintendo Game Boy in Japan. That makes 2026 the 30th anniversary year for the franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over those thirty years, much like pinball, Pok\u00e9mon’s fortunes have had something of a rollercoaster ride. The brand saw huge worldwide growth up until 2000, when its popularity began to wane. While many further games were launched, it took until 2016 for the previous peak of popularity to be reached again with the launch of the augmented reality mobile game, Pok\u00e9mon Go<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stern Pinball’s Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> is based on the animated TV series and is licensed by The Pok\u00e9mon Company International (TPCi), formed from a merger of Pok\u00e9mon USA and Pok\u00e9mon UK, and based in Bellvue, Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game was shown to distributors on Tuesday with a media event held the following day at Stern’s factory in Elk Grove Village on the outskirts of Chicago. At that event, game designers Jack Danger and George Gomez spoke about the game’s development and theme integration, while software lead, Tanio Klyce, described the rules currently in the game, as well as features which are planned for future updates.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Stern's<\/a>
Stern’s Media Day on Wednesday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Obtaining approval by the licence-holder for the use of any assets has been painstakingly slow, with all uses closely scrutinised. In a first for Stern, the cabinet, backbox, translite and playfield artwork was all created by TPCi’s in-house art team, with certain approved modifications for the more pinball-specific elements made at Stern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This tight control has clearly led to the game’s launch being delayed from Stern’s usual early-January window so it can be shown at the Consumer Electronics Show. George and Jack said the licensors, TPCi, only got to see an actual physical game for the first time earlier this week. The games at the media event had ‘Pending licensor approval’ burned into the LCD screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although 2026 is the 30th anniversary for the Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> brand, with many global events planned to celebrate the milestone, the team at Stern were at pains to dispel any suggestion they would be releasing a future 30th anniversary edition of the pinball, saying this <\/em>is the 30th anniversary model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can watch the Media Open Day introduction to the game and an explanation of the rules right here, as recorded by Pinball News’s Mick Brown:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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