Like other manufacturers, Gottlieb first made mechanical pinball games, then electromechanical starting in 1935, and solid state tables starting in the late 1970s.
Gottlieb was bought by Columbia Pictures in 1977. In 1983, after the Coca Cola Company had acquired Columbia, Gottlieb's pinball assets were transferred to a new Coca Cola subsidiary, Mylstar Electronics. In 1984, Coca Cola sought to divest itself of Mylstar, which also made video games. A management group, led by Gilbert G. Pollock, purchased Mylstar's pinball assets in October 1984 and continued the manufacture of pinball machines under a new company, Premier Technology. Premier Technology continued in operation until the summer of 1996, when the slackening demand for pinball forced the company to cease business. Premier did not file for bankruptcy, but sold off all its assets for the benefit of its creditors.
Today, Gottlieb's pinball games (along with those distributed under the Mylstar and Premier names), as well as the trademark on the Gottlieb name are owned by a holding group, Gottlieb Development LLC
Gottlieb's most popular pinball game was Baffle Ball (Mid-1931), and their last released game was Barb Wire (Early 1996).
Gottlieb Video Games
- No Man's Land (1980)
- New York! New York!
- Protector (aka Videoman / Argus /Guardian) (prototype only)
- Reactor
- Q*bert
- Q*bert Qubes (published under Mylstar name)
- Krull
- Mad Planets
- Exterminator
Gottlieb Pinball Games
Electromechanical Pinball Games
Gottlieb System 1 Pinball Games
- Cleopatra #409
- Sinbad #412
- Joker Poker #417
- Dragon #419
- Solar Ride #421
- Count Down #422
- Charlie's Angles #425
- Pinball Pool #427
- Totem #429
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind #430
- Incredible Hulk
- Genie
- Buck Rodgers
- Torch
- Roller Disco
- Asteroid Annie
System 80 Pinball Games
- Panthera #652
- The Amazing Spider-Man #653 (1980)
- Circuis #654
- Counterforce #655
- Star Race #657
- James Bond #658
- Time Line #659
- Force II #661
- Pink Panther #664
- Mars God of War #666
- Volcano #667
- Black Hole #668 (1981)
- Haunted House #669 (1982)
- Devil's Dare #670
- Rocky #672
- Spirit #673
- Striker #675
- Q*Bert's Quest #677
- Super Orbit #680
- Arena #709 (1987)
System 80B Pinball Games
- Chicago Cubs Triple Play #969 (1985)
- Spring Break #706 (1987)
- Diamond Lady #711 (1988)
- Bone Busters #347 (1989)
System 3 Pinball Games
Gottlieb was last to introduce a solid-state system, and last to cease manufacture of electromechanical games. The first version of Gottlieb's solid state
pinball hardware was called System 1, and had many design flaws. Likely it was rushed to compete with the new solid-state games from other manufacturers, particularly Bally. An entirely new platform was produced in 1980, System 80, which was refined in System 80A and System 80B. The final revision was System 3, first made in 1988.