A recent thread on NeoGAF has unearthed a very interesting trio of trademarks filed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Arguably, the most interesting of the three is one for something called ‘Pac-Man Maker’. The title alone suggests we could be looking at an IP that mimics the extremely well received level-creation and editing features included in Nintendo’s Super Mario Maker. 
Bandai Namco’s trademark with the European Union Intellectual Property Office falls under categories 9 and 41, both of which cover video games, computer games and computer software for entertainment. Naturally, the registration doesn’t necessarily guarantee that a genre evolution for Pacman is on the horizon, nor does it guarantee the company is currently developing an IP of the same name – but it does give eager fans hope for something great. The other two trademarks lodged by Bandai Namco were for Code Vein (which previously went under the title ‘Prepare to Dine’) and Storm Wings.
Toru Iwatani’s brainchild first gained popularity in 1980’s arcades and has since spawned various iterations, including the recent Pac-Man 256, which put a modern twist on the game by tilting the maze into a pseudo-isometric arrangement.
