There were video games and arcade hits before Pac-Man, but Namco’s ghost-gobbling hero quickly became a pop-culture icon after his debut in May 1980. Pac-Man’s 45th anniversary is now just over two months away, but Bandai Namco has plans to keep the party going into 2026.
To start off the year of “imPACt,” Bandai Namco released the following video that tracks Pac-Man over the last four decades, including the original game and its Atari 2600 port, as well as some of the sequels and spin-offs including Pac-Man World 2. There’s even a very brief glimpse of Shadow Labyrinth, the upcoming title that reinvents the Pac-Man franchise as a 2D action game.
Shadow Labyrinth may be the biggest Pac-Man game on the horizon, but it’s not the only one. Bandai Namco is teaming up with Supersocial on Roblox for Pac-Man Simulator, which will let players have more Pac-Man adventures centered around the 45th anniversary. Meanwhile, PowerA has Pac-Man gaming accessories in the works for Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. And we’ve already seen some of the Pac-Man plushies that are coming as well.
If you’ve ever wanted to play as Pac-Man in real life, Manchester’s Arcade Arena in the United Kingdom is launching the Pac-Man Live Experience on March 22. This collaboration between Little Lion Entertainment and Bandai Namco allows visitors to step into life-sized versions of Pac-Man’s iconic maze.
From April 30-June 4, Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture is hosting a special Pac-Man display, which will have a themed event on May 10. Additionally, The Great Park Gallery in Irvine, California is also going to have a Pac-Man retrospective exhibition with special programing of its own from May 18-September 28.
Club America will get in on the fun with a limited run of Pac-Man-branded soccer jerseys. There will also be new Pac-Man toys and apparel, and even a Pac-Man cooking book from Insight Editions later in 2025. Bandai Namco is also partnering with the Red Cross for a blood drive program through Pac-Man’s “Make ImPACt” campaign. More details about that will be shared later this year.
