Pac-Man Battle Royale Game Announced After Pac-Man 99 Closure
Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle Chain Chomps key art
Earlier this week, Bandai Namco pulled the plug on Pac-Man 99, a 99-player Pac-Man battle royale game that was exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. Now, just days later, Bandai Namco has announced a new Pac-Man battle royale game, and it has a bit of a curious history.
Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs is a new(ish) battle royale game where up to 64 players will compete to be the last Pac-person standing. The game takes place over a series of interconnected maps, each with a different aesthetic theme — there’s one based on candy, another based on Halloween, one that’s just generally kind of beachy.
In the announcement trailer, we get to see a bunch of different cosmetics for your Pac-person, and it all looks absolutely bonkers. There’s also a host of different power-ups to get the jump on ghosts and fellow Pac-Men, like a shield to keep you from being damaged, a ghost repellent which makes ghosts run from you, and a speedy power-up that makes you move faster.
Here’s how Bandai Namco describes the game:
PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs is an online-only PAC-MAN eating competition! Eat your way through multiple interconnected mazes using Power Pellets and a variety of Power Items to chomp the GHOSTS and opponent PAC-MAN players! Be the last PAC standing at the end of each match in this 64-player Battle Royale to be the Chomp Champ!
Curiously, this seems to be an enhanced version of a game that was previously exclusive to Google Stadia — Google’s now-defunct game streaming service that was popular with pretty much nobody except developers who were offered deals, like Playdead founder Dino Patti who ultimately turned down an 8-figure Stadia deal. Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle was originally released as a free demo on Stadia, but was made a paid $20 game a month later.
Bandai Namco hasn’t announced a price for the Chomp Champs version of the game, or a firm release date, but we do know its platforms. Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs will be released on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam sometime in early 2024.
