The game's success resulted in sequels and the use of the character's likeness in merchandising, such as appearances on lunch boxes, toys, and an animated television show.

[6] Programmer Warren Davis wrote that he was inspired by a pattern of hexagons implemented by fellow Gottlieb developer and Mad Planets designer Kan Yabumoto.

[8][2][10] Davis implemented a unique control scheme; a four-way joystick was rotated 45° to match the directions of Q*bert's jumping.

Following a suggestion from technician Rick Tighe, a pinball machine component known as a ‘knocker’ was included to make a loud sound when a character falls off the pyramid.

In retrospect, Davis expressed regret for the asterisk, because it prevented the name from becoming a common crossword term and it is a wildcard character for search engines.

[2] As development neared the production stage, Q*bert underwent location tests in local arcades under its preliminary title @!#?

[20] Q*bert is Gottlieb's only video game that earned considerable critical and commercial success, selling around 25,000 arcade cabinets.

[22] When the game was first introduced to a wider industry audience at the November 1982 AMOA show, it was immediately received favorably by the press.

[2][29] Author John Sellers also called Q*bert addictive, and praised the sound effects and three-dimensional appearance of the graphics.

[31] At the 1982 AMOA Show, Parker Brothers secured the license to publish home conversions of the Q*bert arcade game.

[37] Q*bert was also published by Parker Brothers for the Philips Videopac in Europe,[38] by Tsukuda Original for the Othello Multivision in Japan,[39] and by Ultra Games for the NES in North America.

[43] In 2008, IGN's Levi Buchanan rated it the fourth-worst arcade port for the Atari 2600, mostly because of a lack of jumping animations for enemies, which instead appear instantly on the adjacent cube, making it impossible to know in which direction they are traveling before they land.

[44] Entertainment Weekly called Q*Bert one of the top ten games for the Atari 2600 in 2013, saying the port "lost the cool isometric perspective but none of the addictive gameplay.

[58] It features upscaled and filtered graphics,[29] an online leaderboard for players to post high scores, and Sixaxis motion controls.

IGN's Jeremy Dunham and GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann did not enjoy the motion controls and said that the game was a title only for nostalgic players.

[2] Q*bert became one of the most merchandised arcade games behind Pac-Man,[2] although according to John Sellers it was not nearly as successful as that franchise or Donkey Kong.

[13] The character's likeness appears on various items including coloring books, sleeping bags, frisbees, board games, wind-up toys, and stuffed animals.

[71] The show is set in a United States, 1950s era town called "Q-Burg",[72] and stars Q*bert as a high school student, altered to include arms, hands, jacket, and sneakers.

[7] The 1993 IBM PC role-playing game Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds has a segment where the player has to solve a pyramid puzzle as a homage to Q*bert.

[82] The game has been referenced in several animated television series: Family Guy,[83] Futurama,[84] The Simpsons,[85][86] Robot Chicken,[87] Mad,[88] and South Park.

[90] He held it for almost 30 years, until George Leutz from Brooklyn, New York played one game of Q*bert for eighty-four hours and forty-eight minutes on February 14–18, 2013 at Richie Knucklez' Arcade in Flemington, New Jersey.

[2] On November 18, 2012, George Leutz broke the Q*Bert tournament world record live at the Kong Off 2 event at The 1up Arcade and Bar in Denver, Colorado.

[96] Believing that the original game was too easy, Davis initiated development of Faster Harder More Challenging Q*bert in 1983,[10] which increases the difficulty, introduces Q*bertha, and adds a bonus round.

[13] Parker Brothers showcased home versions of Q*bert's Qubes at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1985.

In 2004, Sony Pictures released a sequel for Adobe Flash titled Q*bert 2004, containing a faithful rendition of the original arcade game, along with 50 levels that use new board layouts and six new visual themes.

[112] On July 2, 2014, Gonzo Games and Sideline amusement announced Q*bert Rebooted to be released on Steam, iOS and Android.

[116] According to Mark Caplan, Vice President, Consumer Products, Worldwide Marketing & Distribution at Sony Pictures Entertainment, the release was motivated by "renewed interest in Q*bert, in part due to the cameo in the recent Wreck-It Ralph animated feature film".

[117] Q*bert Rebooted contains a port of the classic arcade game alongside a new playing mode that uses hexagonal shapes, increasing the number of possible movement directions to six.

[118] Additionally, the 'Rebooted' mode features new enemy types, including a boxing glove that punches Q*bert off the levels[118] and a treasure chest that tries to avoid him.

[118] On October 11, 2019, an updated version of Q*bert developed by Lucky-Kat games[120] in association with Sony Pictures was published via the iOS and Android.