Press Start 2P Font
Press Start 2P is a free pixel font based on the screen lettering of 1980s Namco arcade games, and it's free for any use. Type above to preview the Press Start 2P font with your own text, add an effect and save it as a PNG, or download the font.
It also covers Greek and Cyrillic, which is unusual for an arcade-style pixel font.
Press Start 2P
Designed by CodeMan38. SIL Open Font License 1.1: free for personal and commercial use. Best for: Retro game titles, pixel art, 8-bit logos.
Press Start 2P characters
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !?&@#$%*+-=/:;.,'"()
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Where Press Start 2P comes from
Press Start 2P is a bitmap font made by CodeMan38 from the screen font of 1980s Namco arcade games. The uppercase letters and digits go back to Atari's Sprint from 1977, and the specific shapes in this version come from Return of Ishtar (1986), one of the first arcade games to use lowercase as well as uppercase letters on screen. That history is why the Press Start 2P font looks instantly like an arcade game.
Use multiples of 8 pixels
Press Start 2P is drawn on an 8x8 pixel grid, so it looks sharpest at 8, 16, 24, 32 pixels and other multiples of 8. At other sizes the edges get smoothed and look blurry. In a game engine, turn off texture filtering or anti-aliasing for the font. In the preview above, the size slider lets you check how it looks before you save the PNG.
How to download and install Press Start 2P
The Press Start 2P font download is a single TTF file. Press Download, unzip it and open PressStart2P-Regular.ttf. On Windows click Install; on a Mac click Install Font. For Canva, upload the .ttf through the font uploader (a Canva Pro feature). For a website, load Press Start 2P from Google Fonts and set font-family: 'Press Start 2P', system-ui. There's only one weight, so use the font size rather than bold to make it bigger.
Press Start 2P as a pixel text generator
You don't need to install the font to get pixel text. Type your text in the preview, pick a color and an effect like outline or 3D, and press Save text as PNG for a transparent image. It works well for retro thumbnails, game jam title screens and Twitch overlays.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Press Start 2P free for commercial use?
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Yes. It's released under the SIL Open Font License, so you can use it in commercial games, videos and products. You just can't sell the font file by itself.
What arcade font is Press Start 2P based on?
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The screen font of 1980s Namco arcade games, specifically the letter shapes from Return of Ishtar (1986). The capitals and digits date back to Atari's Sprint (1977).
Why does Press Start 2P look blurry?
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It's a pixel font built on an 8x8 grid. Use it at multiples of 8 pixels and turn off anti-aliasing or texture filtering in your engine.
Does Press Start 2P have a bold version?
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No. It has one weight. To make it stand out, use a larger size or add an outline or 3D effect.
Does Press Start 2P support other languages?
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Yes. Besides Latin, it covers Greek and Cyrillic characters.
Is 2P Press Start the same font?
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Yes. People often search for it as 2P Press Start, but the font's name is Press Start 2P.