Ms. Pac-Man Is Being Replaced, And It's Likely Due To A Legal Dispute

gamespot.com:

Ms. Pac-Man is a gaming icon alongside Pac-Man himself, but that hasn't stopped Bandai-Namco from replacing the character in a recent Pac-Land re-release, likely due to an ongoing rights issue.

As spotted by Twitter user Nickisonlinenet, the newly released Arcade Archives port of Pac-Land replaces Ms. Pac-Man (and Jr. Pac-Man) with new characters, Pac-Mom and Baby Pac-Man respectively. Gone is Ms. Pac-Man's iconic red bow and boots, instead replaced by a character wearing heels and a pink hat. Presumably, this new Pac-Mom character will also appear in the upcoming Pac-Man Museum +, a collection of 14 Pac-Man games which features Pac-Land but notably does not include Ms. Pac-Man, one of the franchise's most popular spin-offs.

so apparently I found out that the Arcade Archives release of Pac-Land that comes out tomorrow was modified to replace Ms. Pac-Man (as well as Baby Pac) to have the new Pac-Mom character from Pac-Man Museum +. look at what you did to us AtGames pic.twitter.com/gEDNpXGMfV

So what's the issue? It all stems from the fact that Ms. Pac-Man was not developed by Namco itself back in 1982. Instead, it started life as a game called Crazy Otto and was created by a company called General Computer Corporation (GCC) as a conversion kit for the original Pac-Man, which modified Pac-Man in some interesting ways to create a new experience. Desperate for a new sequel, and with no official Pac-Man 2 on the way from Namco, Pac-Man's U.S. distributor Midway signed a deal with GCC to release Crazy Otto as Ms. Pac-Man and sell it as a brand-new game.

The game was a hit, but Namco was not happy about the whole situation, stating it had never authorized the release of Ms. Pac-Man. Namco canceled its distributor agreement