In 2015, Nintendo released Super Mario Maker, a game that allowed fans to create Super Mario stages with easy-to-use tools and share them with friends online. Now it appears as though Bandai Namco may have a similar project in the works for Pac-Man, as the company has recently filed a trademark for an unannounced project called Pac-Man Maker.
The trademark for Pac-Man Maker was filed on April 18th with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Further details on what the project will entail are unavailable at this time, but its name does seem to suggest that it will allow fans to create their own Pac-Man mazes. That's just speculation, and we will have to wait for further comment from Bandai Namco before we can say definitively what Pac-Man Maker is one way or another.
Given the continued popularity of Pac-Man, the apparent Pac-Man Maker video game isn't a big surprise. There's still a large fan base for the pizza-shaped maze runner, as evident by his inclusion as a fighter in Super Smash Bros. and the fact that a new Pac-Man game seems to release almost every year. Whether or not there's enough enthusiasm for Pac-Man to carry a game about creating mazes remains to be seen, however.
Of course, Pac-Man Maker could be something completely different than Super Mario Maker. Whatever it is, though, there does seem to be a good chance that it will be officially announced sooner rather than later. After all, Bandai Namco registered another trademark with the EUIPO on April 18th, this one for the vampire RPG Code Vein. Since Code Vein was announced on the same day as its registration, one has to imagine that a Pac-Man Maker announcement could come any day.
If we don't see any Pac-Man Maker news within the next month or so, it seems like a safe bet that an announcement could come at E3 2017. While Bandai Namco rarely has a big presence at the show, it sometimes has its games revealed during the press conferences of the console manufacturers, so those interested in Pac-Man Maker will still want to tune in to the event.
Pac-Man Maker is not officially announced.