Williams Electronics

United States · Founded 1943 · Arcade & Pinball Manufacturer

The Chicago pinball maker that published Defender, Robotron: 2084 and Joust, absorbed Bally Midway in 1988 and gave the 1990s Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam.

Harry Williams founded the Williams Manufacturing Company in Chicago in 1943, and for decades it was best known for pinball: its 1950 table Lucky Inning was its first with inward-facing flippers at the bottom, the arrangement every modern machine uses. The company entered arcade video games in 1973 with Paddle-Ball, a Pong clone, and found its stride in the golden age. Defender (1981) and its sequel Stargate, created by Eugene Jarvis, were followed by Robotron: 2084, Joust and Sinistar, and Williams also released Irem's Moon Patrol under licence. Most of these were widely converted to home systems by other publishers, including Atari. In 1988 Williams bought Bally/Midway, which was leaving the amusement business; video games were combined under the Midway name, which went on to release Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam, while pinball continued under both the Williams and Bally brands. Its pinball tables included The Addams Family (1992), which sold a record 20,270 units, and Medieval Madness (1997). The pinball division closed on 25 October 1999 after the Pinball 2000 line failed, and the parent company, WMS Industries, turned to slot machines.