The Pinball Museum in Banning, California was closed due to economic difficulties and the pandemic. Its collection value may be as high as 7 million US dollars.

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In an unremarkable warehouse near Palm Springs, California, hundreds of pinball machines once beckoned to arcade game enthusiasts from all directions, and their flashing lights and coin-operated slots brought people back to the era long before the Xbox.

But then there was a coronavirus pandemic, and the owner of the museum stated that the game was over due to the economic climate and the cost of real estate and insurance. There are no fins to keep the ball in the game.

Now, the Pinball Museum in Banning, California is one of the largest pinball machine museums, and it’s about to do something that once seemed incredible: it will start auctioning more than 1,700 arcade games on Friday.

The auction will be conducted online and in museums. In 2015, the Guinness World Record for the most people playing pinball at the same time was 331.

According to the auctioneer who handled the auction, the value of these collections may be as high as $7 million, including some machines that are more than 60 years old. The holy grail of the auction may be the 2018 "Pirates of the Caribbean" collector's edition pinball machine, which is associated with the Disney franchise, and the auction house says its maximum price can reach 35,000 US dollars.

The founder of the museum, John Wicks, said in an interview on Wednesday that he had no choice but to abandon his collection of about 1,000 electronic arcade games and 700 pinball machines, including "Star Wars" and "Superman." And "Ghostbusters" theme, which he personally acquired over the years.

"It's just sadness," Mr. Wicks said of the demise of the museum. "People will come to this place from all over the world."

Mr. Wicks said that even before the pandemic, the museum was only open for about 9 days a year and mainly held events, with an average of about 9,000 visitors per year. Most of these tourists paid $80 for the all-day pass and $150 for the weekend pass, which he said allows visitors to play an unlimited number of games. No coins are needed.

But Mr. Wicks, 58, said that the museum has been losing money and he decided to lease the 18-acre site to a hemp farm. He said that it proved difficult to find a new home for the museum, and the plan to move the museum to Palm Springs (about 20 minutes from Banning) was derailed due to cost and expected delays.

"I don't have enough money to keep it myself," Mr. Wicks said of the museum.

The auction will be held from Friday to Sunday and September 24 to 26 and will be handled by the Captain's Auction Warehouse in Anaheim, California, which specializes in pinball machines and arcade games.

"I am personally sad about this, but I am optimistic that the equipment will be transferred to a good place," Chris Campbell, the owner of the auction company, said in an interview on Wednesday.

Mr. Campbell said that this auction was the largest auction of private collections his company has ever handled, and it caused various sensations.

"Interest is crazy," he said. "This exceeded expectations."

He said that he is expected to arouse people's strong interest in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" pinball game, which is one of the few pinball games. When asked whether collectors would actually use a pinball machine after spending five figures, he said: "They will definitely play. This is definitely a show off work, too."

Mr. Wicks said that when he was a child, he grew up in Lakewood, Los Angeles County, California, bought his first pinball machines, and then sold them from his mother’s garage. He said that when he was 17 years old, he opened his first store.

A few years later, Mr. Wicks said that he saw pinball machines starting to appear in arcade bars.

"It was a children's dormitory back then," he said, adding, "Now these kids have credit cards."