PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs — Everything We Know

Bandai and Amber Studio have announced PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs, a 64-player battle royale game for consoles and PC. To confirm, that’s PAC-MAN, the pellet-munching poster child of a generation reborn, gearing up to launch an online-only competitive game. Sound like your cup of tea? If so, then you’ll be pleased to know that it’s currently in the works, and is scheduled to launch as early as Q1 2024.

So, what more do you need to know about the upcoming online game? Well, here’s everything we’ve been able to pull together since first catching wind of its existence earlier this week. Care to read on? Here’s everything you need to know about PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs.

What Is PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs?

To set the record straight, PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs is a cross-platform battle royale game, and one that’ll aim to pool 64 players together for a series of free-for-all battles. From the looks of it, the game won’t steer too far from the initial concept or design, so players can certainly expect to see the same signature gameplay as featured in the arcade classic, only with a much, much larger field of play and customizable roster of characters. It’s PAC-MAN with friends, basically.

In developer Amber Studios’ own words: “The only PAC-MAN battle royale with cross platform play! Eat everything in your maze! Then tunnel to other PAC-MAN players’ mazes and munch even more for the high score! Munch Dots and Fruit, then eat a Power Pellet to chomp the GHOSTS… and even chomp other PAC-MAN! Beware of flashing mazes as they drop out one by one during each match! Escape before they’re eliminated! Be the last PAC standing against 63 other PAC-MAN opponents to be the Chomp Champ!”

Story

It’s a battle royale game, so don’t expect to see any major story-driven nodes or in-depth character story arcs popping up here. Fact is, as it’s an online-only game with a harsh focus on classic multiplayer gameplay, it’s unlikely that there’ll be any form of storytelling whatsoever. But then, it is PAC-MAN—a series that hasn’t exactly been exposed to a narrative since its arcade inception, so it hardly comes as much of a surprise.

So, if there isn’t a story, then what is there? Well, according to the devs, there’ll be several game modes, with the most obvious one being Elimination Mode—a 64-player last-person standing free-for-all. Again, not story-focused, but definitely PAC-MAN-related.

Gameplay

To call out the elephant in the room, gameplay in PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs is looking to be, quite frankly, the exact same as it is in other iterations. What’s new here, of course, is the online multiplayer—a mode that will allow up to 64 players to compete at the same time, and essentially rack up points on their own board, and invade others for additional perks and rewards. From the looks of it, that’ll be your goal: clear your board, and then wipe out other players through the use of powers and tactical maneuvers. Simple, yet oh so effective.

According to Amber Studios, the base version will prioritize an Elimination Mode, which “features arcade style action against players of any rank where you earn Tokens to trade for cosmetics.” In addition to this core game mode, there’ll also be Ranked Mode, which will feature “serious competition against players of similar ranking where you earn Rank XP to place on the leaderboards!”

“Power Items add to the action with shields, speed, and more to give you the upper hand against the GHOSTS as well as other PAC-MAN players!” the description adds. “Some Power Items help PAC-MAN, but others help the GHOSTS!”

Development

In case you missed the initial announcement, PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs is being developed by Amber Studios, an independent firm based over in Romania. To give you an idea of what the team has been up to since its 2013 entrance, we’ve had the likes of Rumble Heroes, Cinderella’s Free Fall, and of course, PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs, which will serve as the studio’s first joint venture with acclaimed publisher, Bandai.

At the time of writing, Chomp Champs is slated for an early 2024 launch across all major platforms. You can keep tabs on the developer’s progress by checking in with the dev log here.

Trailer

Caught your interest? As luck would have it, Bandai and Amber Studios actually went and posted an extended gameplay trailer over on its official streaming handles earlier this week. Need we say more? You can catch a glimpse of what’s to come in the upcoming online multiplayer game in the trailer embedded above.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs will be heading to Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC via Steam in early 2024. Interested in getting first dibs on a copy? You can add it to your wishlist over on Steam here.

As far as editions go, Amber Studios has only teased the one — which is the standard copy. You can go ahead and add that to your wishlist on Steam or any major storefront today.

Looking to stay up to speed with Amber Studios’ latest project? If so, don’t forget to check in with the team’s official social feed for all the latest pre-launch updates here. If anything changes ahead of its release, we’ll be sure to fill you in on all the key details right here on gaming.net.

So, what’s your take? Will you be picking up a copy of PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs when it launches on consoles and PC early next year? Let us know your thoughts over on our socials here.