‘Pac-Man’ Celebrates 40th Birthday With Special Multiplayer Game on Twitch

Bandai Namco’s arcade classic debuted in 1980

Photo: Bandai Namco Entertainment

Arcade classic “Pac-Man” turns 40 today, and publisher Bandai Namco released a new collaborative game mode on Twitch and music video to celebrate the arcade staple’s birthday.

The Pac-Man Live Studio on Amazon’s Twitch game streaming site will contain the original game and several online multiplayer team game modes. Pac-Man Live Studio will also give players the ability to co-op to create and share custom “Pac-Man” mazes with the community. Bandai Namco would not disclose when the Pac-Man Live Studio will launch, and simply said “soon.”

“Pac-Man” was released in arcades in Japan in 1980 and ported to Atari consoles in 1982. Work on the game began in 1979 and took one year and five months to complete, the longest video game development period in history at the time. A mobile version of the game was created in 2001 and the iPhone version created in 2009 still exists today — the original mobile “Pac-Man” game was one of the first mobile titles made by Namco.

Lead game designer Toru Iwatani told Gamasutra in 2009 that the Japanese game title was originally “Puck-Man,” but the developers changed the name for fear that the name would be altered to be more profane.

Bandai Namco’s “Join the Pac” video released Friday is an ear-popping electronica beat made with sounds from the original game. Namco also released a digital album of music inspired by and featured in the games. The iconic sounds of “Pac-Man” have barely changed in its four decades of play, the same as its graphics — the iconic Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde ghosts, power pellets and fruit power-ups are recognizable to players of all ages.

Watch the video and see tweets from “Pac-Man” fans around the world below.

Samson Amore

Reporter • samson.amore@thewrap.com • Twitter: @Samsonamore

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