Pac-Man 99 online service shutting down, being delisted in October
Bandai Namco has announced that Pac-Man 99 is coming to an end, with the game’s online service planned to shut down later in the year and it’ll be delisted entirely. Your last chance to play the game will be on October 8, 2023.
Pac-Man 99 will still be playable offline and all downloadable content is still being available as planned after the shutdown date if previously purchased. That means players will continue to have access to extras like CPU Battle Mode.
Here’s the full notice:
Pac-Man 99, which is currently available as a benefit for Nintendo Switch Online members, will soon be discontinued.
Distribution of the main game and sales for each DLC will end accordingly.
End date schedule is as follows:
• August 8, 2023 (Tue) 8:00 AM PDT
Discontinued content: Paid custom themes• September 8, 2023 (Fri) 8:00 AM PDT
Discontinued content: Pac-Man 99 Deluxe Pack / PAC-MAN 99 Mode Unlock• October 8, 2023 (Sun) 9:00 PM PDT
Discontinuation of online services for the main game / distribution of the main game and free custom themesEven after online services are discontinued for the main game, users who own either of the paid DLCs (Pac-Man 99 Deluxe Pack or Pac-Man 99 Mode Unlock) can continue to enjoy CPU Battle, Blind Time Attack, and Score Attack in offline mode.
In addition, please note:
• Pac-Man 99 themes that were purchased can be used in offline mode.
• Purchased content can be re-downloaded even after discontinuation of sales.
• Pac-Man 99 Deluxe Pack includes all paid downloadable content, so please be careful not to make duplicate purchases.
Pac-Man 99 did seem to see some success following launch. A few months after release, it was announced that the title had surpassed four million downloads. Bandai Namco continued to post about download numbers quite a bit and put out themes for players for quite some time. However, it’s possible that the game hasn’t been seeing as many active users, leading to the end of online play.
Pac-Man 99 followed Tetris 99, which is still going strong with Maximus Cup events and new themes. As of now no announcements have been made about that title shutting down online services.
How do you feel about Bandai Namco pulling the plug on Pac-Man 99 with online service shutting down? Let us know in the comments below.
