The very first PAC-MAN machine debuted in an arcade in May of 1985. In June of the same year, video of a PAC-MAN game was streamed on the giant-sized television on Studio Alta in Tokyo’s Shinjuku, drawing huge crowds.

This new form of gaming, centering on a cute character and easy-to-understand “dot-eating action,” drew in legions of fans in Japan and then overseas, sparking a PAC-MAN fever around the globe.
In the decades to come, sequels including “Super PAC-MAN,” “Pac-Land,” “PAC-MAN World,” and “Pac ’n Roll” joined the original. 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the hit series.

1982: Hanna-Barbera Productions animates a PAC-MAN cartoon for American television. Broadcast during “golden time” on ABC, it achieves a peak audience share of 56%.

1999: Billy Mitchell completes the first perfect game, with a score of 3,333,360 points, in Florida.

2005: PAC-MAN is officially registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the “most successful coin-operated game” for selling 293,822 machines in the seven years after its 1980 debut.

2020: The 40th anniversary of PAC-MAN. PAC-MAN events unfold around the world under the banner “Join the Pac!”