Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.[a] is a Japanese multinationalvideo gamepublisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as Namco Bandai Games Inc.,[b] it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game business, as well as Bandai's former equivalent division.[3] Development operations were spun off into a new company in 2012, Namco Bandai Studios, now called Bandai Namco Studios.
First logo as Namco Bandai Games (then Bandai Namco Games) was used until 2015.
On January 4, 2006, Namco Hometek and Bandai Games, the North American consumer game divisions of the former companies, merged to form Namco Bandai Games America Inc., with them absorbing Namco's American subsidiaries which was housed within Namco Hometek's former premises and completing Namco and Bandai's merge in North America.[4] On January 11, Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. announced that the Japanese video game divisions of Namco and Bandai would merge into Namco Bandai Games Inc. in March 2006. The merger would form together the home console game content, arcade game, and mobile content business under one roof.[2] Both companies in a joint statement cited Japan's decreasing birth rates and advancements in technology as the reason for the merge, and to increase their relevance to newer audiences. Both companies worked independently under the newly formed Bandai Namco Holdings until 31 March 2006, when their video game operations were merged to form Namco Bandai Games.[1] On October 30, the European divisions of Namco and Bandai would merge as well, forming Namco Bandai Games Europe S.A.S.[5]
In November 2007, it was announced that Banpresto's video game operations, which had traded independently after Namco Bandai Holdings purchased the company in 2006, would be folded into Namco Bandai Games' operations on April 1, 2008.[6]
In August 2008, it was announced that Bandai Networks, Namco Bandai's mobile phone business, would also be merged into Namco Bandai Games on April 1, 2009 and folded.[7] In September, Namco Bandai Games Europe entered into a joint-venture with holding company Infogrames Entertainment SA to form Distribution Partners S.A.S., which would consolidate Atari's entire distribution network outside of North America and Japan into a single business with exclusive physical packaged-goods distribution rights for video games produced by Namco Bandai and Infogrames within Europe, Asia, South America, Oceania and Africa. The venture would allow Namco Bandai Games to gain a distribution network for the PAL region and would hold a 34% stake, in addition to a stake in Atari Europe and it's subsidiaries.[8][9][10][11][12] On December 4, 2008, Namco Bandai Games America announced that they would form a new publishing label called "Surge". The label would focus on publishing mature titles intended for a western audience and was intended to create a separate identity solely for this purpose.[13] The first title to be published under the label was Afro Samurai.[14][15] No other titles were released under the label, with other titles that focused within that target audience such as Dead to Rights: Retribution and Splatterhouse being released under the Namco label instead to reflect the series' legacy.
In March 2009, Namco Bandai Games Europe announced it would purchase Atari's stake in Distribution Partners for €37 million and merge it into its own operations. This followed the news of Atari exiting the PAL distribution market to focus on publishing and developing for the massively multiplayer online market.[16][17] Atari Europe's assets were merged and folded into Namco Bandai in May 2009[18][19] while it's sale and marketing personnel were transferred to Distribution Partners, of which the prior deal would have allowed Namco Bandai to purchase the remaining 66% stake in Atari Europe June 2012-2013.[20][21] The merger was completed on July 7, and Distribution Partners was renamed as Namco Bandai Partners. Alongside that came Atari's entire distribution operations outside North America and Japan, including 100% of Atari Australia Pty Ltd., 100% of the shares of Atari Asia Holdings Pty. Ltd. and 100% of the shares of Atari UK Ltd.[22] Atari would secure a five-year distribution deal for Namco Bandai Partners to exclusively distribute their titles in those territories.[23] The merger would allow Namco Bandai Games to now hold operations in over 50 countries with 17 dedicated offices.[24][25][26][27][28]
In 2010, Namco Bandai Games entered the Guinness World Records as the company that released the most TV commercials for the same product, a Nintendo DS game called Solatorobo: Red the Hunter. They created 100 versions of the ad as the game consists of 100 chapters.[29]
In early 2011, Namco Networks was absorbed into Namco Bandai Games America, effectively consolidating Namco Bandai's American console, handheld, and mobile video game development operations.[30]
On 2 April 2012, Namco Bandai Games spun off its development operations into a new company called Namco Bandai Studios. The new company was spurred by Namco Bandai's interest in faster development times and tighter cohesion between disparate development teams. It comprises approximately 1,000 employees, who were already part of Namco Bandai.[31]
In March 2013, Namco Bandai Games established two new game studios. The first, Namco Bandai Studios Singapore, is Namco Bandai's "leading development center" in Asia and develops game content for the Asia Pacific market.[32] The second studio, Namco Bandai Studios Vancouver, works on online social games and game content development for North America and Europe, and is part of the Center for Digital Media (CDM).[32] In July 2013, it was announced that Namco Bandai Partners' operations would be merged into Namco Bandai Games Europe to push distribution and publishing into one entity.[33]
Previous logo was used from 2015 to 2022.
In 2014, Namco Bandai Games and Namco Bandai Studios became Bandai Namco Games and Bandai Namco Studios, respectively. The change unified the brand internationally in order to increase the "value" and "appeal" of the name.[34] The full company name was changed to Bandai Namco Entertainment on 1 April 2015.[35]
On 1 April 2018, the amusement machine business division of Bandai Namco Entertainment was transferred over to sister company Bandai Namco Amusement.[36][37][38]
On July 31 2019, Bandai Namco Entertainment strengthen its mobile operations with the by establishing a mobile development studio based in Barcelona, Spain named Bandai Namco Mobile that would focus on developing and marketing mobile games for markets outside of Asia within the. The new mobile game development studio opened a year later in 2020 with Bandai Namco Europe & Bandai Namco America president and CEO Naoki Katashima leading the mobile division.[39]
In September 2020, Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe and Oceania acquired Canadian video game developer Reflector Entertainment.[40]
In February 2021, Bandai Namco Europe took a minorty stake in German developer Limbic Entertainment[41], eventually becoming the majority stakeholder in October 2022.[42][43]
In March 2021, Bandai Namco Amusement announced that withdrawal of the arcade game facility business in North America due to closure of various gaming facilities from the COVID-19 pandemic.[44] Despite the announcement, Bandai Namco Amusement America was not affected by this withdrawal.[45] In April 2021, Bandai Namco Entertainment America announced it would close its Santa Clara office and move to a new Southern California office.[46][47]
In June 2022, Bandai Namco Entertainment and ILCA. Inc announced the establishment of Bandai Namco Aces, with 51% of the shares owned by Bandai Namco and 49% of the shares owned by ILCA.[48] This new development company will be responsible for the development of AAA titles, including Ace Combat.[49]
On November 20 2024, Bandai Namco Entertainment announced the merger of Bandai Namco Online into the company, dissolving the subsidiary as a result with the employees joining the parent company. This came after the disappointing results of Blue Protocol and Gundam Evolution, games that performed below expectations with the dissolution set to be completed by April 2025.[50]
Corporate structure
Bandai Namco Entertainment was originally headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, moving their operations to Minato-ku, Tokyo in February 2016.[51] The North American and European divisions respectively in Irvine, California, as Bandai Namco Entertainment America, and in Lyon, France, as Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe. Divisions have also been established in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Most of the Non-American and Japanese divisions were formerly distribution arms of Atari until the company sold them off to Bandai Namco in July 2009 alongside their Distribution Partners unit, which was effectively renamed Namco Bandai Partners[52][53] until being folded in 2013.
Bandai Namco Entertainment is the core development division of the Bandai Namco Group's "Content Strategic Business Unit" (Content SBU), and the main video game branch of Bandai Namco Holdings.[54]
Software development and subsidiaries
Bandai Namco Studios: established in April 2012 as a separate company[55] — Bandai Namco Studios creates video games for home consoles, handheld systems, mobile devices and arcade hardware, while Bandai Namco Entertainment handles the managing, marketing and publishing of these products.[31] Bandai Namco Studios also produces music and videos based on its properties and has development studios in the European, Asian, and Americas offices.[32][56]
Bandai Namco Mobile: established in July 2019 as a separate mobile division that brings decade experiences to the mobile gaming industry — Bandai Namco Mobile focuses on the overseas development of creating and marketing mobile games for smartphones and tablets outside of Asia.[57]
Reflector Entertainment; A Canadian video game studio that was founded in 2016 by Alexandre Amancio and former Cirque du Soleil founder & businessman that develops immersive, multi-format storyworlds, including video games, podcasts and comics headquarted in Montreal, Canada.[58]
Limbic Entertainment; A German video game development studio that focuses on game design and programming
^ abKarlin, David (1 November 2006). "Bandai and Namco Finalize Merger Details". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2020. With around 1800 employees, Bandai Namco Games will be established on March 31st, 2006.
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