2021 Zen Studios Recap – We had a packed year!

Published: December 31, 2021

Zen Studios in 2021 – What a year!

It seems like that we just started The Pinball Show yesterday, and suddenly the whole 2021 year is over – but what a year it was! Our team almost doubled this year, we brought you new tables, games, merch, and who would have thought… a new show!

Let’s rewind the gears of time and revisit all the good stuff!

January 27 – Reveal of Pinball FX, The Next-Gen Pinball Experience

We brought you our biggest announcement right away! First, we revealed the trailer of Pinball FX and introduced features like Pinball Royale, Career mode, Challenges, and enhanced visuals. But our most ambitious pinball project can not be complete without new tables! Throughout the year we revealed Pinball Noir, Sky Pirates – Treasures of the Clouds, Curse of the Mummy, and who could forget the Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure announcement! Take a look at a few of these trailers:

Curse of the Mummy Trailer – Pinball FX

Pinball Noir – New Zen Original coming to Pinball FX

Pinball FX will be released for PC in Early Access via the Epic Games Store in March 2022, with a full launch on PC and consoles later in 2022. And don’t worry, there is plenty more to come! 😉

The Pinball Show – Season 1

In January, we introduced The Pinball Show, which is a monthly show packed with Zen Studios pinball goodness. If you would like to be informed about news, interviews, and inside info directly from us, this is your go-to! The show will continue with Season 2 in 2022! 

April 29 – Star Wars™ Pinball VR

In April, we brought 6 existing Star Wars™ tables to the VR scene, along with two brand new ones, The Mandalorian and Classic Collectibles. Besides the endless pinball action, the game features a customizable fan cave, which you can decorate with Star Wars memorabilia, collectibles, and art. As a surprise to our dedicated VR pinball fans, we added 2 more tables to the game for free since its release.

September 3 – Zen Pinball Party

Our brand new application arrived to Apple Arcade with four brand new tables and 12 in total! Apart from Zen Originals and Williams Classics, the game is home to DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, and Hasbro’s My Little Pony tables. Compete with friends and family by taking turns in Hotseat mode and earn rewards in limited-time events and customize the experience.

September 29 – Zen Studios X Birdfish Brewing – Collectible Pinball Themed Beer Packs

We joined forces with Birdfish Brewing Company, to create a limited-edition craft beer series that celebrates pinball with its unique taste and design. The HefeweiZen is a traditional wheat beer with a relatively malty sweetness balanced by low hop bitterness and relatively high carbonation. As opposition, the MärZen is a lager, inspired by the finest beers from Oktoberfest (check out its design!!) For the third one, we teamed up with the International Flipper Pinball Association the celebrate the organization and its players. The IFPA is a super juicy IPA that showcases wonderful aromas of citrus fruit, lemongrass, and slightly dank hops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMm4n9YH_qg

October 29 – Peanuts’ Snoopy Pinball

The brand new Peanuts’ Snoopy Pinball table arrived bringing new adventures to digital pinball! Join Snoopy, Woodstock, Charlie Brown, and the rest of the Peanuts gang in Zen Pinball Party!

November 19 – Funko Pinball Party Arena, a new real-time, multiplayer mode!

Many have requested an action-packed table that features real-time PvP pinball battles. I can gladly say we delivered! In Funko Pinball Party Arena, we implemented such a new mechanism and system that can not be found on any other pinball table. Asteroid rains, beach balls, and even a chicken can appear on the playfield, trying to ruin your glorious way to become the ruler of the arena. There are only a few rules to follow. Score high. Attack. Survive!

This new multiplayer experience marks the very first collaboration between Zen and Funko, opening the door for even more exciting surprises in the future.

December 9 – Pinball FX3 – The Big Fix

Besides the development of Pinball FX and Zen Pinball Party, we also spent time with bug fixes in Pinball FX3 on Steam. Check it out here, it was quite something:

We are also planning to bring fixes to other platforms of Pinball FX3 in the future!

December 10 – Circus Electrique announcement

Our non-pinball department also had a lot to do in 2021. This time, we will bring you a story-driven RPG, mixing tactics, circus management in a completely enthralling way. Manage a group of circus performers and save Victorian steampunk London! (P.S. Clowns included)

Step Right Up in 2022!

December 10 – Garfield Pinball

Your favorite lazy cat has joined the Zen Pinball Party library. Fortunately, not on Monday. We didn’t dare to face the consequences.

December 16 – Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure announcement

And the announcement of Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure. We are not able to express how happy we are that we will be able to make this table for you. If you haven’t heard, the Holy Grail of Pinball is also coming to Pinball FX3 and Williams Pinball alongside Pinball FX, so you will be able to enjoy one of our most requested tables on almost every platform! 

Other fun stuff

We launched the Zen Studios TikTok channel in January, where you can get a closer look into our life along with funny pinball content and tutorials. Zen

Throughout the year, we hosted 21 Lords of PinballFX, where you had a chance to play with Mel, Akos, Linne, and other Zen members. If you missed that, don’t worry, new challenges are coming in 2022!

In the summer, we hosted the first Hall of Fame voting of the Zen Originals tables. Your favorite table was the beloved Sorcerer’s Lair.

In June Akos hosted the Pinbal Quiz – Summer edition, where you had a chance to win game codes, even to Pinball FX!

We brought back the Zen Studios Streams! Join Linne on Tueasdys at 4:00PM GMT and experience similarly exciting moments!

These titles, releases, and achievements couldn’t be possible without you, our devoted fans and players. Thank you very much for your support over the years, see you in 2022, which will open a new dimension in digital pinball development.