Pinball FX3 was the best digital pinball ecosystem available commercially on Steam and consoles. But it isn’t anymore. That title now belongs to Pinball FX.
You might be reading some reviews here and thinking I’m delusional by making this claim.
I’ve been covering the evolution of Zen’s take on digital pinball since 2012 through the BlahCade Pinball Podcast. I have 130 hours of actual gameplay in Pinball FX on Steam.
Let me distill years of industry coverage and some first-run tips into something you can read in around 5 minutes.
Something that will help you understand why you should at least experience the game yourself before you form an opinion.

First of all, if you are on the fence about Pinball FX because of cost, it might surprise you that you don’t need to pay a cent to experience Pinball FX daily.

When you start the game, completing the tutorial unlocks 24 hours of free access to all tables and modes in the game at the point you complete the tutorial.
I recommend only doing this when you have a whole day to play the 25 newly added Zen licensed, original unlicensed, and Williams tables available as of October 2023 during the free 24-hour period.
Play your favorites from the other brands you already know.
Form your opinion about the differences between the two platform versions and see if you agree.

After the 24 hours expires, you can then enjoy Williams Fish Tales, Wild West Rampage, and Sorcerer’s Lair fully unlocked for FREE. Yours to keep.
Play in the FREE daily Event tournaments that let you try out a selection of ever-changing tables in the FX ecosystem in different play modes and configurations.
There is a rotating roster of free Events to play, and you get a number of tries that reset every day (often less than a day).
Literally free. No purchase is required.

Also, you won’t lose access to your FX3 tables.
Zen could’ve decided to delist the FX3 app after Pinball FX was available on all planned platforms. Still, they made it very clear in Early Access that this was never the plan.
And they’ve followed through with this promise.
The FX3 app is still available if you decide to build up your Pinball FX library through Steam sales but don’t want to miss out on playing your favorites.

Steam sales run frequently, and I’ve seen some legacy packs go for as cheap as a 66% discount.
If your FX3 purchases are made through the same Steam account, you get a steep discount on the Legacy Bundles in FX3.
All are remastered with the latest Unreal Engine lighting, physics, textures, and new Event modes that you can play whenever you want.
My advice is to wishlist everything and wait until the price is right for your budget.

If you find your gaming rig is not performing well during your 24 hours of joy, look at some of the GPU tweaks you can activate, like DLSS and SDR. You can even try out NVidia Reflex now, which makes a huge difference to how the game plays and feels on older hardware.
Those with powerful cards can push things to the max with Ray Tracing and HDR that make these remastered tables things of beauty.
The Williams tables look especially nice with Ray Tracing and HDR running.

The direction Zen Studios is taking Pinball FX is at the beginning of what amounts to an 8-10-year strategy.
The current roadmap for the product (publicly confirmed during early access by folks at Zen Studios directly) stretched out as far as the end of 2024.
That roadmap will absolutely be well into 2025 by now.
And it isn’t slowing down.
Brands are starting to realize that Zen offers a proven platform to expose their brand to different audiences and are desperate to get in the queue.
That means you’ll have access to table experiences from brands that you would never expect could be made into pinball tables.
Asmodee Games is a good example of this type of partnership, as is the already-released Crypt of the Necrodancer.

But a bold strategy like this can’t be possible without some price pain.
Retooling from the in-house “PX Engine” with over 10 years of institutional knowledge to a commercial engine like Unreal Engine 4 isn’t cheap.
Licensors also like to be paid for their brands and intellectual property so studios can continue offering the content that customers demand.
These factors meant that the practice of customers getting free upgrades between FX2 and FX3 had to be abandoned.
And some customers are having difficulty coming to terms with this one-time pain.

But if you’ve read this far, you probably aren’t one of those customers.
Like me, you’re probably an emerging or passionate pinball enthusiast who realizes that supporting game studios means they can continue making stuff you love.
Hopefully, I’ve at least convinced you to try the game.
Who knows, we might even see each other on the leaderboards.

Pinball FX3 was the best digital pinball ecosystem available commercially on Steam and consoles. But it isn’t anymore. That title now belongs to Pinball FX. You might be reading some reviews here and thinking I’m delusional by making this claim. I’ve been covering the evolution of Zen’s take on digital pinball since 2012 through the BlahCade Pinball Podcast. I have 130 hours of actual gameplay in Pinball FX on Steam. Let me distill years of industry coverage and some first-run tips into something you can read in around 5 minutes. Something that will help you understand why you should at least experience the game yourself before you form an opinion. First of all, if you are on the fence about Pinball FX because of cost, it might surprise you that you don’t need to pay a cent to experience Pinball FX daily. When you start the game, completing the tutorial unlocks 24 hours of free access to all tables and modes in the game at the point you complete the tutorial. I recommend only doing this when you have a whole day to play the 25 newly added Zen licensed, original unlicensed, and Williams tables available as of October 2023 during the free 24-hour period. Play your favorites from the other brands you already know. Form your opinion about the differences between the two platform versions and see if you agree. After the 24 hours expires, you can then enjoy Williams Fish Tales, Wild West Rampage, and Sorcerer’s Lair fully unlocked for FREE. Yours to keep. Play in the FREE daily Event tournaments that let you try out a selection of ever-changing tables in the FX ecosystem in different play modes and configurations. There is a rotating roster of free Events to play, and you get a number of tries that reset every day (often less than a day). Literally free. No purchase is required. Also, you won’t lose access to your FX3 tables. Zen could’ve decided to delist the FX3 app after Pinball FX was available on all planned platforms. Still, they made it very clear in Early Access that this was never the plan. And they’ve followed through with this promise. The FX3 app is still available if you decide to build up your Pinball FX library through Steam sales but don’t want to miss out on playing your favorites. Steam sales run frequently, and I’ve seen some legacy packs go for as cheap as a 66% discount. If your FX3 purchases are made through the same Steam account, you get a steep discount on the Legacy Bundles in FX3. All are remastered with the latest Unreal Engine lighting, physics, textures, and new Event modes that you can play whenever you want. My advice is to wishlist everything and wait until the price is right for your budget. If you find your gaming rig is not performing well during your 24 hours of joy, look at some of the GPU tweaks you can activate, like DLSS and SDR. You can even try out NVidia Reflex now, which makes a huge difference to how the game plays and feels on older hardware. Those with powerful cards can push things to the max with Ray Tracing and HDR that make these remastered tables things of beauty. The Williams tables look especially nice with Ray Tracing and HDR running. The direction Zen Studios is taking Pinball FX is at the beginning of what amounts to an 8-10-year strategy. The current roadmap for the product (publicly confirmed during early access by folks at Zen Studios directly) stretched out as far as the end of 2024. That roadmap will absolutely be well into 2025 by now. And it isn’t slowing down. Brands are starting to realize that Zen offers a proven platform to expose their brand to different audiences and are desperate to get in the queue. That means you’ll have access to table experiences from brands that you would never expect could be made into pinball tables. Asmodee Games is a good example of this type of partnership, as is the already-released Crypt of the Necrodancer. But a bold strategy like this can’t be possible without some price pain. Retooling from the in-house “PX Engine” with over 10 years of institutional knowledge to a commercial engine like Unreal Engine 4 isn’t cheap. Licensors also like to be paid for their brands and intellectual property so studios can continue offering the content that customers demand. These factors meant that the practice of customers getting free upgrades between FX2 and FX3 had to be abandoned. And some customers are having difficulty coming to terms with this one-time pain. But if you’ve read this far, you probably aren’t one of those customers. Like me, you’re probably an emerging or passionate pinball enthusiast who realizes that supporting game studios means they can continue making stuff you love. Hopefully, I’ve at least convinced you to try the game. Who knows, we might even see each other on the leaderboards.