On May 22, Pac-Man fans around the world honor the history and evolution of the legendary arcade game Pac Man. Celebrations and themed events take place around the world. The date commemorates the game’s original release date on May 22, 1980, marking a milestone in video game history. Its impact was immediate—it became a massive hit and a global phenomenon in the industry.

Pac-Man, originally called Puck Man in Japan, was developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The object of Pac-Man is for players to control titular character, as he eats all the dots in an enclosed maze while avoiding four differently colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called “Power Pellets” causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to also eat them for bonus points.

Game development on Pac-Man started in early 1979, led by Toru Iwatani with a nine-man team. Iwatani wanted to create a game that could appeal to both men and women, where most video games of the era featured themes appealing to traditionally masculine interests, such as war or sports. The inspiration for the Pac-Man character was the image of a pizza with a slice removed.

The in-game characters were made to be cute and colorful to appeal to younger players. The original Japanese title of Puck Man was derived from the Japanese phrase paku paku taberu, which refers to gobbling something up; the title was changed to Pac-Man for the North American release due to fears of vandals turning the P into an F, as in fuck.