Space Invaders
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.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
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- Released
- 1978
- Developer
- Taito
- Platforms
- 11 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 1 January 1978 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Taito |
| Publisher | Taito, Midway Games |
| Platforms | Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, iOS, Arcade, iPad, PlayStation Portable, PC, PlayStation, Steam Deck |
| Genres | First-Person Shooter |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q220665, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Space Invaders? How long to beat it
Total play time for Space Invaders is about 3.9 hours to do everything, and around 0.5 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 0.5h | 45 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 2.9h | 6 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 3.9h | 5 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Space Invaders sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Space Invaders lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 25ahead of 0% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 74ahead of 99% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Space Invaders
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
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Where Space Invaders appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Space Invaders qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
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Common questions about Space Invaders
What platforms is Space Invaders on?
Space Invaders is available on Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, iOS, Arcade, iPad, PlayStation Portable, PC, PlayStation, Steam Deck. It first released in 1978.
Who made Space Invaders?
Space Invaders was developed by Taito and published by Taito, Midway Games.
How long does it take to beat Space Invaders?
about 0.5 hours for the main story, 2.9 hours with the main extras, 3.9 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.