The game also uses 3D event scenes, which were modeled by Kotaro Uchikoshi, who would later be a scenario writer for visual novels at KID. It was made on a low budget, which led to the decision to make the low-cost video scenes of actor Mike Butters drinking Pepsi. The game was developed by the Japanese video game developer KID.
Following this, Pepsi decided to further promote the character with a video game. The character was featured in commercials in Japan, and in the Japanese version of the video game Fighting Vipers, and became popular in Japan. Pepsiman is based on Pepsi's mascot of the same name, which was created for Pepsi's Japanese branch. In between stages, the player is shown videos of an American man (Mike Butters) drinking Pepsi and eating chips and pizza while he's "watching" you play. Each stage ends with Pepsiman being chased by an object, including a giant Pepsi can. Throughout each stage is a number of checkpoints if the player gets hit by obstacles too many times, he has to restart from the latest checkpoint. In some stages, Pepsiman's head becomes stuck inside a steel drum, which inverts the controls, and in some, he uses a skateboard. The player gains points by collecting Pepsi cans. The player does this by using four different moves: running, dashing, jumping, and super-jumping. The player aims to dodge obstacles, such as cars, construction cranes, and people, as well as Pepsi-branded obstacles, including a Pepsi truck. The game is played from a third-person perspective, with Pepsiman automatically running forwards through the stage, sometimes running through people's living rooms. Most stages are based on real locations, such as San Francisco, New York City and Texas except for the last one, Pepsi City.
Pepsiman is an action game that consists of four stages, each divided into smaller segments, and each involving the superhero Pepsiman saving a person who is dehydrated, such as a military man in the middle of a desert, by giving them a can of Pepsi. The player tries to dodge obstacles while Pepsiman automatically runs forward. According to Uchikoshi, the game did not sell well. A writer for Complex included it on a list of company-branded games that "didn't suck", commenting that it is not a bad game as long as the player can tolerate the large amount of advertisement in it. Reviewers frequently compared the game to other games, including Crash Bandicoot, and commented on its simplicity and its price, which was thought to be low. While an American publisher did look into acquiring the rights to publish the game in the United States, it ended up being a Japan-exclusive game. The game also features 3D cutscenes, for which the future visual novel writer Kotaro Uchikoshi created 3D models. The game was made with a low budget, prompting the decision to make videos in-between stages that show a man drinking Pepsi, as they were cheap to produce. It focuses the player on avoiding obstacles by running, dashing, and jumping, while Pepsiman automatically runs forward through each of the game's stages. It was released in Japan on March 4, 1999, and is based on the American carbonated soft drink Pepsi's eponymous superhero mascot. Pepsiman is an action game developed and published by KID for the PlayStation.