Thumbs up just for bringing up an interesting topic, even though I disagree with your conclusion.

Stern is the clear leader. They have multiple potential competitors, but nobody has really become a real threat except JJP.

CGC might be 6th or 7th down the list of potential competitors.

I disagree. In the current pinball market, buyers expect code to be completed within a reasonable time frame. If any company decided to stop updating code, it would soon destroy their sales numbers.

A couple of years ago, I think Stern got to a point where this bad habit starting hitting their bottom line, and adversely affecting their reputation. The last few games have shipped with much improved code.

This is definitely a seller's market. Prices are at all-time highs, and still rising. As soon as we start seeing sales slump, and games being heavily discounted, that's when the pendulum has shifted toward a buyer's market.

But yes, the amount of choices available now is pretty remarkable.