Announced during yesterday’s Nintendo Direct Mini (emphasis on the ‘mini’), Bandai Namco has been developing a Pac-Man World remake entitled, fully, Pac-Man World Re-Pac, featuring a modernized and optimized version of the 1999 PlayStation classic. The original Pac-Man World followed the game’s titular character as you platform your way to rescuing six different characters in six different worlds. This remains true for the Re-Pac… with one exception: Ms. Pac-Man. 

While bearing the Pac-Man name, Ms. Pac-Man was a licensed creation of Midway Games in association with a group of programmers at General Computer Corporation (GCC). Because Bandai Namco allowed these American companies to use the Pac-Man rights and produce Pac-Man products in North America, they don’t hold full ownership over the character or, more importantly, royalties made off said character. As a result, there have been ongoing disputes over the Ms. Pac-Man name and image since, every time she appears in a Namco game, the American GCC is reportedly owed royalties.

While this one dispute may not have sunk the Ms. Pac-Man brand, another dispute in 2019 occurred when a retro gaming company named AtGames released a miniature Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet. According to Bandai Namco, the company never gave AtGames permission to do so. After attempting to sue AtGames, Namco ended up with a more convoluted situation on its hands, as AtGames turned to GCC’s successors to receive their owed royalties, apparently spending $10,000,000 (USD) on the contract for the Ms. Pac-Man rights. A series of litigation followed and, while much of the settlement is still unknown, the case concluded in October 2020, with AtGames able to continue sales of a cabinet featuring Ms. Pac-Man. However, Namco effectively shut down the use of the Ms. Pac-Man character afterward, removing her from all but a couple of analog properties. 

In the most recent development, Bandai Namco has begun to replace Ms. Pac-Man, covering her signature hair bow with a pink hat. This new character has been affectionately named Pac-Mom, but the community is already beginning to show its distaste. With the announcement of Pac-Man World Re-Pac, many fans took to Twitter and other social media sites to express disapproval of Ms. Pac-Man’s replacement. These responses often fluctuated between comedic and downright irritated, but the general consensus points to a desire to simply resolve the problem and give the fans the beloved character they know. Of course, since the details of the litigation are confidential, only those closest to Bandai Namco and AtGames know the true state of the Ms. Pac-Man name or where she will be headed going forward. 

We have a missing classic video game character. No one seems to know where Ms. Pac-Man is. Pac-Man has been questioned but seems he has moved on… please place flyers around to help locate her. pic.twitter.com/GTLKKZkgGr

— Mad 🥒 (@madlittlepixel) June 28, 2022

Pac-Man World Re-Pac will be released on August 28 for consoles and PC.