Pinball FX Gambles Big on Graphics
Is ray tracing enough to sell these tables again at a high price?
I’ve loved the Pinball FX/Zen Pinball series since it first launched eons ago during the Xbox 360 generation. Zen Studios’ long running pinball sim is a fun blend of form and function. It has exciting pinball physics and graphical flourishes that could never exist on a real physical table.
Pinball FX 2 turned the series into more of a platform for pinball content, and Pinball FX 3 upgraded that platform dramatically back in 2017. It got new graphics, daily online challenges, and a revamped UI. It came out on a whole host of new systems and became the new de-facto standard for virtual video game pinball. Best of all, when that big upgrade happened, existing customers got to import all their previously purchased table content for free. The platform also attracted the Williams pinball license away from their competitors at Pinball Arcade, making Pinball FX 3 the best place to play re-created pinball whether you were on a phone, console, or PC.
The video game industry moves forward like a ravenous beast, and as such iteration is the norm. New consoles and GPUs are here, and Zen Studios has decided it’s time to upgrade again. They got a big cash infusion from a buyout two years ago and spent more time than they planned to…
