Space Invaders

Space Invaders
Space Invaders
	Japanese arcade flyer
Developer	Taito
Publishers	JP/AS/EU: Taito; NA/EU: Midway Manufacturing; AU: Leisure & Allied Industries;
Designer	Tomohiro Nishikado
Composer	Michiyuki Kamei
Series	Space Invaders
Platform	Arcade Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200, MSX, Commodore 64, handheld, watch, calculator, Famicom, SG-1000, WonderSwan, VG Pocket, mobile phone, iOS;
Release	July 1978 Arcade JP: July 1978; NA: November 1978; 2600 March 10, 1980; Atari 8-bit 1980; 5200 October 1982; Famicom JP: April 17, 1985; SG-1000 JP: June 1985; WonderSwan JP: May 13, 1999; iOS WW: February 27, 2009; ;
Genre	Fixed shooter
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer

Space Invaders is a 1978 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Taito for arcades. Taito released it in Japan in July 1978 and overseas through a partnership with Midway Manufacturing later that year. Space Invaders was the first video game with endless gameplay and the first fixed shooter, setting the template for the genre. The goal is to defeat waves of descending aliens with a horizontally moving laser cannon to earn as many points as possible.

Designer Tomohiro Nishikado drew inspiration from video games such as Gun Fight and Breakout, electro-mechanical target shooting games, and science fiction narratives such as the novel The War of the Worlds, the anime Space Battleship Yamato, and the film Star Wars. To complete development, he had to design custom hardware and development tools to use the features in microprocessor technology, which was new to him. Upon release, Space Invaders quickly became a commercial success worldwide; by 1982, it had grossed $3.8 billion ($10 billion in 2024-adjusted terms), with a net profit of $450 million ($1.2 billion in 2024 terms). This made it the best-selling video game and highest-grossing entertainment product at the time, and the highest-grossing video game yet. It is also one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

Space Invaders is considered one of the most influential and best video games ever, having ushered in the golden age of arcade video games, as well as Japan's long-lasting success in the video games industry. It inspired several prolific game designers to join the industry and has influenced numerous games. The game has been ported and re-released in various forms, including the 1980 Atari 2600 version, which quadrupled sales of the Atari 2600 games console and became the first killer app for video game consoles. The pixelated enemy aliens have become pop culture icons, sometimes representing video games as a whole. The game has spawned many sequels and remakes, been the inspiration for numerous pieces of art and music, been parodied across media, and been the focus of several pieces of legislation to limit access to video games.