Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. is a Japanese company that creates and publishes video games. It is part of a larger group called Bandai Namco Holdings. The company was started in 2006 as Namco Bandai Games Inc. It took over the video game business from two older companies: Namco and Bandai. In 2012, the company that makes games was separated into a new company called Namco Bandai Studios, which is now named Bandai Namco Studios.
Bandai Namco Entertainment owns many popular video game series that earn millions of dollars. These include Pac-Man, Tekken, Soulcalibur, Tales, Ace Combat, Taiko no Tatsujin, The Idolmaster, Ridge Racer, Dark Souls, .hack, and Little Nightmares. Pac-Man is the company's official mascot. The company also has the rights to several Japanese media series, such as Shonen Jump, Gundam, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Sword Art Online, and the Ultra Series.
History
On 4 January 2006, Namco Hometek and Bandai Games, the North American consumer game divisions of the former companies, merged to form Namco Bandai Games America Inc. This new company absorbed Namco's American subsidiaries, which were located in Namco Hometek's former offices, and completed the merger of Namco and Bandai in North America. On 11 January, 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 combined the home console game content, arcade game, and mobile content businesses under one company. Both companies stated in a joint statement that Japan's decreasing birth rates and technological advancements were reasons for the merger, as they aimed to better connect with new audiences. Both companies operated independently under Bandai Namco Holdings until 31 March 2006, when their video game operations merged to form Namco Bandai Games. On 30 October, the European divisions of Namco and Bandai merged as well, forming Namco Bandai Games Europe S.A.S.
In November 2007, Namco Bandai Games announced it would take over Banpresto, which it had purchased in 2006. It would absorb Banpresto's video game software and amusement equipment businesses, which had operated independently, and integrate them into Namco Bandai Games. This process began in April 2008, when Namco Bandai Games started taking over Banpresto's video game publishing activities. Banpresto's prize business, including the development and sales of prizes such as UFO catchers, was taken over by a new company under the Banpresto name. In August 2008, it was announced that Bandai Networks, Namco Bandai's mobile phone business, would also be merged into Namco Bandai Games on 1 April 2009.
In September 2008, Namco Bandai Games Europe formed a joint venture with Infogrames Entertainment SA to create Distribution Partners S.A.S. This partnership combined Atari's entire distribution network outside North America and Japan into one business, giving Namco Bandai and Infogrames exclusive rights to distribute their video games in Europe, Asia, South America, Oceania, and Africa. The venture allowed Namco Bandai Games to gain a distribution network for the PAL region and gave it a 34% stake in Distribution Partners, along with stakes in Atari Europe and its subsidiaries. On 4 December 2008, Namco Bandai Games America announced the creation of a new publishing label called "Surge." This label focused on publishing mature video games for a Western audience. The first game released under the label was Afro Samurai. Other games targeting this audience, such as Dead to Rights: Retribution and Splatterhouse, were published under the Namco label instead to honor the series' history.
In March 2009, Namco Bandai Games Europe announced it would buy Atari's stake in Distribution Partners for €37 million and merge it into its own operations. This followed Atari's decision to leave the PAL distribution market to focus on publishing and developing games for the massively multiplayer online market. Atari Europe's assets were merged into Namco Bandai in May 2009, and its sales and marketing staff were transferred to Distribution Partners. The deal allowed Namco Bandai to purchase the remaining 66% stake in Atari Europe between June 2012 and 2013. The merger was completed on 7 July, and Distribution Partners was renamed Namco Bandai Partners. This included Atari's distribution operations outside North America and Japan, such as 100% ownership of Atari Australia Pty Ltd., Atari Asia Holdings Pty. Ltd., and Atari UK Ltd. Atari signed a five-year deal with Namco Bandai Partners to exclusively distribute its games in those regions. The merger allowed Namco Bandai Games to operate in over 50 countries with 17 dedicated offices.
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 because the game had 100 chapters.
In early 2011, Namco Networks was absorbed into Namco Bandai Games America, combining the company's American console, handheld, and mobile video game development operations.
On 2 April 2012, Namco Bandai Games separated its development operations into a new company called Namco Bandai Studios. This change was made to improve development speed and better coordinate different development teams. The new company had about 1,000 employees who were already part of Namco Bandai.
In March 2013, Namco Bandai Games established two new game studios. The first, Namco Bandai Studios Singapore, became the company's main development center in Asia, creating games for the Asia Pacific market. The second, Namco Bandai Studios Vancouver, focused on online social games and game content for North America and Europe, and was part of the Center for Digital Media (CDM). In July 2013, it was announced that Namco Bandai Partners' operations would be merged into Namco Bandai Games Europe to combine distribution and publishing into one entity.
In January 2014, Namco Bandai Games and its development division, Namco Bandai Studios, became Bandai Namco Games and Bandai Namco Studios, respectively. This change unified the brand globally to increase the "value" and "appeal" of the name. The full company name was changed to Bandai Namco Entertainment on 1 April 2015.
In February 2014, Bandai Namco Holdings announced it would stop publishing video games under the separate Namco, Bandai, and Banpresto labels, starting in April. From that time forward, all games would be published under the Bandai Namco Games label.
On 1 April 2018, the amusement machine business division of Bandai Namco Entertainment was transferred to its sister company, Bandai Namco Amusement.
On 31 July 2019, Bandai Namco Entertainment strengthened its mobile operations by establishing a mobile development studio in Barcelona, Spain, called
Corporate structure
Bandai Namco Entertainment was first based in Shinagawa, Tokyo. In February 2016, its main office moved to Minato-ku, Tokyo. The North American division is located in Irvine, California, and is called Bandai Namco Entertainment America. The European division is in Lyon, France, and is named Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe. Additional divisions have been set up in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Bandai Namco Entertainment is the main group within the Bandai Namco Group's "Content Strategic Business Unit" (Content SBU). It is also the primary video game company under Bandai Namco Holdings.