Pac-Man is an arcade game that was released by Namco (now Bandai Namco Entertainment) in July 1980, after location testing began on May 22 of the same year. It is also the name of the character in that series. As one of the most well-known Japanese-made computer games in the world, it was released in the United States by Bally Midway (later Midway Games), with whom Namco had a temporarily close relationship at the time, and its popularity led it to be called the Mickey Mouse of the 80s.