Windows boss Pavan Davuluri has said Microsoft will add 3D Pinball to its “matrix for things to think about,” after a fan asked the company to bring the game back. It isn’t a promise, but it’s rare to hear the person running Windows talk about reviving the Windows XP classic.
“Bring back 3D pinball” was the pitch posted by a fan on X, and Microsoft picked it for the Inside Windows podcast, where Davuluri, Executive Vice President of Windows & Devices, answers community questions with Marcus Ash, CVP of Design and Research.
To be clear, Davuluri didn’t say a team is working on Pinball, or that it’ll ship with Windows 11. It’s on a list of ideas, and that’s it.
Still, like me, if you grew up with Windows XP, there’s a good chance your first PC game was Pinball, probably played in a school computer lab while the teacher wasn’t looking. It’s like Snake on the old Nokia phones, which we didn’t have to download.
There was no Store, and you didn’t need Game Pass. You went to Start > All Programs > Games, and there it was.
Microsoft put 3D Pinball back on the Windows wish list
In the Inside Windows episode, Davuluri called the question “such a great reminder.”
“People love games and Windows, and we have such an amazing catalog on Windows from casual games all the way to AAA titles,” he said. “We’ve had a great history in Windows of having games in-box as well, and noted on 3D pinball, we will add that into the matrix for things to think about.”
“Matrix” is the kind of word executives use when an idea enters the pool of things being considered, so definitely not a roadmap. At least, the Windows boss didn’t say that it was impossible!
Also, Davuluri said the questions were “sourced directly from the community” with help from the Windows social team, and the episode also had him explaining why Windows 11 will use less RAM. Somebody at Microsoft decided Pinball deserved a spot next to memory management.
The episode went up on the Windows YouTube channel on May 30, so Pinball has been in that matrix for more than four months now.
If you’ve ever wondered why the game disappeared, Microsoft’s Raymond Chen explained it years ago. While porting Windows XP to 64-bit, his team found that the ball would pass through objects “like a ghost.” Pinball was written by an outside company, most of the code was “completely uncommented,” and with millions of lines of Windows still left to port, Microsoft dropped the game instead of hunting down the bug.
“If it makes you feel better, I am saddened by this as much as you are,” Chen wrote. Windows XP became the last version of Windows with Pinball, and since Microsoft only licensed the game from Cinematronics for bundling with Windows, I’m not sure if a standalone re-release is something that’s possible.
Windows 11 could use a little of the old Windows magic
When someone asked why the Windows 95 CD came with music videos, cartoons and games, Chen said: “Because it was fun! Why does one have to justify having fun?”
Old Windows was full of that. Pinball, Solitaire, Minesweeper, Hover!, the startup sounds, and those weird extras on the CD gave Windows a personality. A lot of us still remember the Space Cadet table, hitting Z and the slash key for the flippers, and climbing the ranks from Cadet toward Fleet Admiral before the bell rang. Fun times!
Then Windows 8 happened. The classic games stopped shipping with Windows and moved to the Store, and Windows slowly turned into a place to get work done, with ads and Copilot buttons filling the space where the fun used to be.
Interestingly, the podcast is full of Microsoft talking about a Windows that feels personal again. In the episode, the two recalled a student at a Windows Insider event who proudly showed off his PC customized with Windhawk, and said they see people “light up when they feel like this is mine.”
Ash has also hinted that Windows 11’s system sounds could get a refresh after the designer behind the Windows 11 startup sound rejoined his team.
Pinball won’t make Windows any better than it is, but it could make the 5-year-old OS a little more desirable.
Microsoft has the perfect stage for a surprise
Microsoft’s Windows and Surface event is on October 7, with Davuluri and Ash teasing what’s next for Windows, Surface, and NVIDIA RTX Spark.
Obviously, there’s no sign Pinball will show up. But imagine Microsoft wrapping up a keynote full of AI agents, developers, and RTX Spark, then pausing for “one more thing,” and a modern 3D Pinball loads on the big screen, MIDI music and all. Goosebumps!
Throw in refreshed Windows sounds and a few Easter eggs, and maybe even Clippy as the face of an AI agent. The internet clearly still loves him, because the hackers who took over Microsoft’s X account used a fake promise to bring Clippy back as bait. Of course, the wish list is mine, and Microsoft hasn’t teased any of it.
Windows 11 has spent years chasing AI features and speed, but very little of it has stayed with people the way a Space Cadet high score did.
Sometimes, an operating system can just be fun.
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