Shadow Labyrinth is Pac-Man’s shocking take on Hollow Knight

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Shadow Labyrinth – Reveal Trailer The Game Awards This story is part of our coverage of The Game Awards 2024 Updated less than 2 minutes ago

Bandai Namco revealed a new Pac-Man game at the Game Awards 2024, but it’s probably not what anyone expected. Shadow Labyrinth is a 2D action-adventure game set to launch in 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It completely twists the classic franchise on its head by giving it a grim, eerie tone.

The shocking trailer gives players a glimpse at a dark fantasy adventure that callsHollow Knight to mind. In it, a character that Bandai Namco describes as “the Swordsman” roams through 2D environments, with a glossy orb — naturally in the shape of Pac-Man — hovering above. It’s a total departure from anything the series has done before in both genre and tone.

Ahead of its reveal, Digital Trends spoke to producer Seigo Aizawa, who gave more detail about the surprising project, which is set to launch in time for Pac-Man’s 45th anniversary next year. The project is being developed internally at Bandai Namco by a team that’s been working on the series “for a long time.” Aizawa himself previously served as the producer of Pac-Man 99, so he’s no stranger to Pac-Man spinoffs. For Bandai Namco, the goal is simple: introduce a brand-new kind of player to the world of Pac-Man.

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“Pac-Man has historically been a family game, and we wanted to reach a new fan that has never played Pac-Man before. When we thought about that, we went back to the origin of Pac-Man, which is the maze. And when we thought about the maze, we thought that the 2D action-platformer might be the best genre. And that’s where we thought that maybe a dark Pac-Man