Pac-Man turns 40 this weekend, and the game that was almost called Puck-Man has a lasting legacy to this day. If Pac-Man was a real-life human, its birthday would fall right in the middle between Gen X and the generation of Millennials – potentially explaining why the game continues to appeal to both audiences.

Developed by Japanese company Namco, Pac-Man sold 400,000 gaming cabinets to arcades around the world and made $3.5 billion in lifetime sales by 1990. The game is credited with pioneering non-violent arcade gameplay, thereby opening up the market to new types of consumers – namely women.

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The Pac-Man spin-off, Ms. Pac-Man, released two years after the original game. It was also a huge hit and made the top 5 of the best-selling arcade games, according to data compiled by online magazine U.S. Gamer.

The hype around the game included everything from television shows, songs about Pac-Man fever, Al Yankovic parodies (The Beatles – Taxman), gamers competing for who could finish the game fastest with no mistakes and of course several follow-up versions for arcade and home gaming. If this text has made you miss Pac-Man, you can use the playable Google Doodle game created last year for the game’s 39th anniversary – just another puzzle piece in the myriad of tributes to one of the most influential video games in history.

source statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

feature image Ahmed Altamimi from Pixabay