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Manchester’s Arcade Arena is being transformed into a giant IRL Pac-Man Live Experience in the first quarter of 2025.
It’s being billed as ‘an epic, real-life arcade, an arena-sized playground that will see players run, dash, and chomp their way through the maze’.
In collaboration with Bandai Namco Entertainment and crafted by Little Lion Entertainment, the Arcade Arena will come to life with two massive Pac-Man courts projected onto the floor, and visuals also on the walls.
Upon entering this immersive environment, players will don a Pac vest, transforming into the iconic yellow chomper. This vest features tracking technology, ‘offering an experience that creates a fully interactive, multi-sensory adventure, seamlessly blending the real world with augmented reality, no headsets needed’.
Participants can collect power pellets, evade the classic ghosts—Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde—and rack up points in their quest for victory. The gameplay takes inspiration from the original Pac-Man arcade game, but players can expect new, exclusive bonus levels that are only available at this live experience.
The Pac-Man Live Experience will arrive at the Arcade Arena on March 22nd 2025 for players of all ages.
You can check out more photos of the arena on our Instagram page here:
Leading players through this 12-level adventure is the Pac-Master, a gameshow host and maze master, who acts as both commentator and referee.
“With energetic commentary, sound effects, vibrant lighting, and haptic feedback, the Pac-Master fully immerses participants into the action and brings the entire experience to life,” reads a press release.
Tickets are priced at £25 per person.
Last year, Bandai Namco Amusement Europe launched additional Gashapon stores in the UK.
There’s more info and tickets available at pacmanlive.co.uk
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
