Quoted from Frax:

Do you, and the others, or is this just more "Everything Frax says is always negative regardless of anything, screw having a rational conversation" typical Pinside BS, as usual?
Do you guys not find it interesting that the industry has moved away from taking guys from other adjacent and more directly involved parts of the "amusement complex" to do this stuff, to streamers and players? When you look at all the old guys, they came from other things within the arcade industry, and had little to no experience designing a pinball machine or otherwise having anything to do with pinball at all.
Now, all the new hires come in with EXTENSIVE knowledge of pinball, whether that be community, electronics, or design. The manufacturers aren't having to have these guys effectively apprentice for years to get to a level where they can fly solo in their position. Not only that, most would argue they're doing a superior job. I don't think anyone could say that pinball wasn't in desperate need of this new blood. It's just coming from unexpected places, and it's a pretty big "sea change" that landing these positions is no longer limited to industry insiders. If you can prove you have the skills on a solo project, you stand a decent chance of being hired. That's pretty vastly different than even 10 years ago, and it's interesting to me. In that regard, the total 180 on how they're finding people to fill these jobs *IS* a "weird flex" because traditionally, they'd be a lot more conservative with laying out the money to people that they're so critically dependent on. They're getting double duty of talent acquisition AND marketing by hiring these guys with big names, and I personally think Gary Stern saw this trend coming long before anyone else did.
Also, I totally forgot about the Sharpes on my list! Sorry guys!

Even though I don't agree with all of your post, as I really like most of Borg's games.. ***EXACTLY THIS** is the crux. All of these guys, even the ones I don't personally like, are these guys, and more. The value these companies are getting by hiring these guys is nuts.
I did watch Jack's stream of the JP home pin. While I don't agree with the pricing that was set for it, what was done with the game is great. I'd certainly like to play one at some point just to see how it compares build-quality wise from Stern's prior attempts. Maybe there will be one at TPF? Looking forward to seeing some mechanical innovation from Jack. The T-Rex was just the start. Let's see what he does with a full budget!

Quoted from Beechwood:

Hopefully this will revitalize pinball, make it more mainstream, and save it from the brink of collapse!!!