There's a moment about 20 minutes into Shadow Labyrinth, a new video game that takes place within the Pac-Man universe, that sets the tone for what's to come.
Pac-Man, here called Puck, sheds its trademark bright yellow colors and cute demeanor, growing in size, before eating the corpse of a fallen enemy.
This is Shadow Labyrinth: a gritty sci-fi reinterpretation of the Pac-Man character and world. A game that is more Metroid or Hollow Knight than the cute ghosts and power pellets of yore.
The original Pac-Man, first released in 1980, is the most successful coin-operated arcade game ever according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
And while most of the gaming public doesn't line up for Pac-Man games the way they do, say, a new Mario release: the brand itself remains strong. Pac-Man has 70% brand awareness across all ages, according to a survey conducted by the firm Interpret for Bandai Namco.
But here's the rub: that number increases to around 84% for adults aged 35-54.
Which means there's still some work to do with younger fans.
It makes sense, given that context, why Shadow Labyrinth is being positioned as a game that hopes to capture a slice of that audience.
Through a translator, I spoke with Bandai Namco president, CEO, and chief Pac-Man officer (a legitimate corporate title, I'm repeatedly assured) Nao Udagawa to ask her what's behind the continued success and relevance of Pac-Man as as a global brand — and what it will take to get even more young fans on board.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Interview highlights
Vincent Acovino: Tell me about Shadow Labyrinth and how it's kind of connected to the Pac-Man universe. Where does it fit into Pac-Man as an intellectual property?
Nao Udagawa: Shadow Labyrinth is kind of a reinterpretation, a reconstruction of Pac-Man that was made for the modern gaming audience. And it was our attempt at evolving Pac-Man and trying out a completely new and different genre.
However, that is not to say that Shadow Labyrinth is here to completely replace the Pac-Man we are familiar [with] and have come to love. Pac-Man will continue to be a kid friendly, family friendly IP.
Vincent Acovino: Your title is Chief Pac-Man officer, which is kind of a cool and a funny title to hear on one hand. But I think it does also speak to how much Pac-Man even today means to Bandai Namco.
At the same time, I feel like there's maybe a lot of younger sort of gamers, like you said, who might think Bandai Namco and think like Elden Ring or FromSoft games.
To you, today, how central is Pac-Man to Bandai Namco as a brand?
Nao Udagawa: So as you might be aware, Bandai Namco holds a lot of titles. And we have many businesses as well. Businesses, And along with the many businesses we have many IP's.
And out of all those IP's, we believe Pac-Man is one of the apps to strongly represent what Bandai Namco is.
And it is also a cultural icon that is recognized worldwide. And so as a result, this is a very important IP. We consider it a treasure.
Vincent Acovino: The gaming industry is struggling a lot now with how to figure out what kind of project sizes we can do without restructuring a company. Bandai Namco is not immune from that. There are reports of employees leaving the company and of projects being cancelled.
As the person responsible for, you know, a lot of big picture business decisions: how do you balance taking a risk with something like Shadow Labyrinth -- while also respecting the heritage of these franchises and playing it a little bit safer?
As you see this moment right now: how are you making those kinds of decisions?
Nao Udagawa: In the gaming industry, everyone's facing this problem with development. The games have become expensive and the development period of games have become longer. And so as a whole, developing games has become difficult. I believe that having a very balanced portfolio of games is important. And that has been something I've been pushing for since my first year as the president and CEO of Bandai Namco Entertainment.
But having said that, while the game business is a business, it is still a very creative field. So my biggest focus is to be able to exceed the expectation of fans.
So within the company Pac-Man, we consider Pac-Man an IP that's an IP with a theme of challenge and also growth. So with Shadow Labyrinth, we are really looking forward and kind of excited to see what the reaction is with that game.
We understand that the game is seen at this very creative, risky approach or reinterpretation of Pac-Man, but we actually don't consider Shadow Labyrinth a risky title. It was what we wanted to do. So we did what we wanted to do. Now we are kind of excited to see what fans make out of it.
Shadow Labyrinth is out now on PC, Xbox Series consoles, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PlayStation 5.
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