This year marks the 40th year since the legendary ghost-eating yellow orb Pac-Man first came to arcades. As a part of the celebration for Pac-Man’s 40th birthday, Bandai Namco held a special press conference today on the history of Pac-Man and Bandai’s future plans with the Pac-Man series. The conference included a look at a number of special offers, merchandise and content have already been revealed as a part of the 40 year anniversary celebration, including the $500 limited edition Pac-Man arcade cabinet. Bandai Namco has also partnered with Twitch to bring the new Pac-Man Live Studio game releasing later this year that will allow players to play co-op versions of Pac-Man with their friends and also build their own custom levels that can be uploaded online for others to try out (think Mario Maker).
From May 22 through July 24th, Bandai Namco will also be releasing new tracks and 4 volumes of music from the Pac-Man series as a part of the Pac-Man 40th Anniversary Music Collaboration, with a complete album and CD will be released upon the completion of the digital releases. The music collection will continue to release across most music platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Music and Qobuz. According to the Pac-Man 40th anniversary press release a lot of the music will be returning from previous Bandai Namco arccade games,”Fans looking to access game soundtracks will be pleased to learn that the soundtracks from PAC-MAN & GALAGA DIMENSIONS, PAC-MANIA, and PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX will also be available on the music streaming services listed above starting today.”
Earlier today, Bandai Namco also held a live press conference to celebrate the history of Pac-Man, including a presentation from CEO and Chief Pac-Man Officer Yasuo Miyakawa as he revealed more about the creation of the legendary all-eating orb. “The arcades were filled with violent games about killing aliens, so we set out to design something friendlier and about eating food, that is why Pac-Man is also shaped like a pizza,” Miyakawa said about the game’s origins. The conference also shed some light on the Pac-Man themed projects and collaborations announced earlier this year for the 40th-anniversary celebration, including the Pac-Man virtual challenge to encourage better health and Minecraft collaboration. The Pac-Man Minecraft collaboration was announced earlier in May but gives players the classic Pac-Man experience through the block world of Minecraft. The Pac-Man Virtual Challenge has those interested sign up through the Race Roster page, as runners will need to attempt to run up to 40 miles by September 6th of this year. Those who register and complete the challenge will receive an exclusive Race Kit that includes a racers bib, stickers, and a medal. With a wide variety of spin-off games, merchandise, and projects underway for Pac-Man, it seems that the ghost-eating arcade hero will be making plenty of returns in the future.