TLDR:
Bandai Namco and Flickplay partner for Pac-Man’s 45th anniversary NFT event in February 2025
Location-based scavenger hunt across 40+ spots in Tokyo’s Shibuya district
Two NFT collection series planned – one exclusive to Shibuya, one available worldwide
Experience Pass required for participation, granting in-app currency (Diamonds)
Blockchain network for NFTs still undecided, future game integrations being explored
Bandai Namco Entertainment has announced a partnership with NFT platform Flickplay to celebrate Pac-Man’s 45th anniversary. The collaboration will launch a digital scavenger hunt across Tokyo’s Shibuya district in February 2025.
The event will take place during the four-day DIG Shibuya Festival, running from February 8-11. Participants will hunt for digital collectibles across more than 40 locations throughout Shibuya City, the birthplace of Pac-Man in 1980.
I’m incredibly excited to announce @flickplayapp is partnering with #BandaiNamcoEntertainment Inc. and the City of Shibuya for what will be a groundbreaking inaugural @flickplayapp activation in #Tokyo, celebrating Pac-Man’s 45th anniversary.
This is more than just an… pic.twitter.com/uD6NkMrORJ
— Pierina Merino (@MerinoPierina) November 19, 2024
Two separate NFT collections will be released as part of the celebration. The first series will be exclusively available to those participating in the Shibuya scavenger hunt. The second collection will be made available worldwide through the Flickplay store at a later date.
To participate in the hunt, users must purchase an Experience Pass during a pre-sale event. This pass will provide them with Diamonds, Flickplay’s in-app currency, which can be exchanged for Pac-Man digital collectibles when within range of designated locations.
The Experience Pass also comes with an immediate reward – buyers receive one Pac-Man digital collectible without having to participate in the hunt. Additionally, Flickplay has announced that event participants will receive a “Mystery Super Rare item.”
The hunt will function similarly to Pokémon Go, requiring players to physically visit specific locations within Shibuya City. Once within a predetermined radius of these spots, players can use their Diamonds to claim the digital collectibles.
Flickplay’s platform currently operates across multiple blockchain networks, including Flow, Ethereum, and Polygon. The company is in discussions with other Ethereum layer-2 networks to expand compatibility, though they haven’t yet announced which blockchain will host the Pac-Man NFTs.
The digital collectibles will have various uses within the Flickplay ecosystem. Users can create GIFs with their characters and interact with them through Tamagotchi-style widgets, similar to the platform’s previous Bratz Dolls collection.
Pierina Merino, founder and CEO of Flickplay, told Decrypt that the platform is actively seeking additional utility for the collectibles. “We are actively scouting for great games where we could pilot deeper interoperability with our characters,” Merino stated.
The supply of these digital collectibles will be limited, adding urgency to the scavenger hunt. Players who wish to complete the collection will need to move quickly during the four-day event window.
This initiative follows Flickplay’s previous success with other branded NFT collections. Earlier this year, their Bratz Dolls collection was integrated into The Sandbox, an Ethereum-based metaverse game, where the characters became playable avatars.
Looking ahead to 2025, Flickplay aims to improve the transferability of digital collectibles between different ecosystems. “It’s in our 2025 roadmap to make the experience of taking digital toys seamlessly from one ecosystem to another accessible to regular consumers,” Merino explained.
While specific details about future game integrations for the Pac-Man collectibles remain unannounced, the company continues to explore partnerships that could expand their utility within the gaming ecosystem.
The event represents one of the largest location-based NFT initiatives to date, combining mobile gaming mechanics with blockchain technology and a beloved gaming franchise.
