Bandai Namco Entertainment
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The Bandai Namco Entertainment logo in-use since 2015 | |
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Native name | 株式会社バンダイナムコゲームス |
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Predecessor | Namco (merged with Bandai)[1] |
| Founded |
June 1, 1955 (as Namco) Tokyo, Japan[1] |
| Founder | Masaya Nakamura |
| Headquarters | Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan |
| Coordinates | 35°36′36″N 139°44′48″E / 35.609884°N 139.746769°ECoordinates: 35°36′36″N 139°44′48″E / 35.609884°N 139.746769°E |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
Satoshi Oshita (President and CEO) |
| Products |
List of Bandai Namco video games Dragon Ball series Tales series Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series Ace Combat series Pac-Man series Tekken series One Piece series Soul series Tamagotchi series Digimon series Katamari series |
Number of employees |
Bandai Namco Games 900 (as of April 2013)[1] Bandai Namco Studios 1047 (as of April 2012)[2] |
| Parent | Bandai Namco Holdings |
| Divisions |
Business Promotion Unit Business Management Unit |
| Subsidiaries | See list |
| Website |
bandainamcoent |
Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. (BNEI) (株式会社バンダイナムコエンターテインメント Kabushiki Gaisha Bandai Namuko Entāteinmento) is an arcade, mobile and home video game publisher, based in Japan. The company also publishes video, music and other entertainment products related to its video game IPs. It is the product of a merger between the video game development divisions of Bandai and Namco. Originally referred to in the West as Namco Bandai Games, the company was internationally renamed as Bandai Namco Games in January 2014.[3] On December 17, 2014, Bandai Namco Holdings announced that it would be changing its gaming division name from Bandai Namco Games to Bandai Namco Entertainment, effective on April 1, 2015.
Bandai Namco Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings (BNHD) and specializes in management and sales of video games and other related entertainment products, while its Bandai Namco Studios subsidiaries specialize in the development of these products. It is the core company of Bandai Namco Group's Content Strategic Business Unit (Content SBU).[4]
In addition to its core publisher operations in Japan, Bandai Namco Games publishes content worldwide through different entities. Bandai Namco Games America handles publishing across North America; Bandai Namco Games Europe handles publishing across Europe; Bandai Namco Games Asia handles publishing across Asia (except Japan); Bandai Namco Games Australia and Bandai Namco Games New Zealand handle publishing in Oceania. The company has its headquarters in Shinagawa, Tokyo.[1]
History
In early 2005, Namco Ltd. and Bandai Co. Ltd. announced plans to combine their operations. The merger took effect on September 29 of that same year and both companies came under the umbrella of the newly created Bandai Namco Holdings.[5] On March 31, 2006, the video games division of Bandai was merged with Namco and renamed Namco Bandai Games (Bandai Namco Games in Japan).[6] On January 2, 2006, Namco Hometek and Bandai Games were merged and renamed, in the United States, to form Namco Bandai Games America.[7][8]
On April 1, 2008, Banpresto's video game operations were absorbed by Namco Bandai Games.[9] On April 1, 2009, Bandai Networks, Namco Bandai's mobile phone business, was dissolved and absorbed into Namco Bandai Games.[10]
In 2010, Namco Bandai Games entered the Guinness World Records for being 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.[11]
In early 2011, Namco Networks was absorbed to Namco Bandai Games America, effectively consolidating Namco Bandai's American console, handheld and mobile video game development operations.[12]
On April 2, 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 will comprise approximately by 1,000 employees, who are already part of Namco Bandai.[13]
In March 2013, Namco Bandai Games established two new game studios. The first, Namco Bandai Studios Singapore, will be Namco Bandai's "leading development center" in Asia and develop game content for the Asia Pacific. The second studio, Namco Bandai Studios Vancouver, will work on online social games and game content development for North America and Europe, and will be established within The Center for Digital Media (CDM).[14] In July 2013, Namco Bandai Partners (NBP), which used to oversee the PAL distribution network since September 2012, merged with Namco Bandai Games Europe (NBGE) in order to push distribution and publishing into one entity, Namco Bandai Games Europe (NBGE).[15]
On January 25, 2014, Namco Bandai Games and Namco Bandai Studios announced that the companies would be known as Bandai Namco Games and Bandai Namco Studios worldwide, respectively. The change is intended to unify the brand internationally (since the company was already known as Bandai Namco in Japan) in order to increase the "value" and "appeal" of the name.[3] In December 2014, the company announced in a press release that the full company name will be changed to Bandai Namco Entertainment on April 1, 2015.[16]
Organization
Branches
Bandai Namco Games (BNGI), plays the role of expanding the content business, while Bandai Namco Studios (BNSI) plays the role of creating content. Both companies cooperate to provide products and services around the world.
Bandai Namco Games
Bandai Namco Games (BNGI) is a core company of the Content Strategic Business Unit (Content SBU) of Bandai Namco, and is responsible for all aspects of Bandai Namco Group’s content business, from creation to sales. However, as of April 2012, Bandai Namco Games spun off its video games and related entertainment development to Bandai Namco Studios. As such, Bandai Namco Games is currently responsible for managing, publishing and marketing of already developed content, not only from Bandai Namco Studios but from third-party developers as well.[13]
In addition to its core publisher operations in Japan, Bandai Namco Games publishes content worldwide through different entities. Bandai Namco Games America manages operations and handles publishing across North America and oversees operations of Bandai Namco Games Brazil, which operates and handles publishing in Brazil. Bandai Namco Games Europe manages and oversees operations and handles publishing across Europe, and has branches in France, Greece, the Nordic countries, Portugal, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, and Romania. Bandai Namco Games Asia manages and oversees operations and handles publishing across Asia (except Japan), and has branches in Korea, Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Additionally, it operates and handles publishing in Oceania under Bandai Namco Games Australia and Bandai Namco Games New Zealand.[17]
Bandai Namco Studios
Bandai Namco Studios (BNSI) functions as the core video game development studio of Bandai Namco Games, as of April 2012. In addition to its video game development operations, Bandai Namco Studios also work on other entertainment content such as video and music, related to its video game IPs.
In addition to its core development studio in Tokyo, Japan, Bandai Namco Studios has development operations in Singapore, which develops game content for the Asia Pacific, and Vancouver, Canada (established within The Center for Digital Media), which develops online social games for North America and Europe.[14]
Key people
- Satoshi Oshita, President, Representative Director[1]
- Shin Unozawa, Executive Vice President, Representative Director
- Kazuya Kiyoshima, Member of the Board, Managing Director
- Hitoshi Hagiwara, Member of the Board, Managing Director
- Fumiya Takeno, Member of the Board
- Koichi Honda, Member of the Board
- Makoto Asanuma, Member of the Board
- Masaaki Tsuji, Member of the Board (Part-time Managing Director)
- Masaya Nakamura, Founder
Structure
| Bandai Namco Games Organizational Chart[18] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit | Group | Division | Department |
| Business Promotion Unit | Production Group 1 | Division 1 | Production Department 1 |
| Production Department 2 | |||
| Production Department 3 | |||
| Product Management Department 1 | |||
| Division 2 | Production Department 4 | ||
| Production Department 5 | |||
| Production Department 6 | |||
| Product Management Department 2 | |||
| Division 3 | Production Department 7 | ||
| Production Department 8 | |||
| Production Department 9 | |||
| C&P Management Department | |||
| Sales Department | |||
| Division 4 | Global Relations Department | ||
| Production Administration Department | |||
| Production Group 2 | Division 1 | Production Department 1 | |
| Production Department 2 | |||
| Production Department 3 | |||
| Overseas Production Department | |||
| Division 2 | Production Department 4 | ||
| Production Strategy Department | |||
| Online Services Department | |||
| System Department | |||
| Sales Department | |||
| Promotion & Advertising Department | |||
| Production Administration Department | |||
| Amusement Machine Business Management Group | AM Division | AM Global Business Strategy Department | |
| AM Sales Department 1 | |||
| AM Sales Department 2 | |||
| AM Costumer Service & Logistics Department | |||
| AM Promotion Advertising Department | |||
| Manufacturing Department | |||
| P7 Division | P7 Management Department | ||
| P7 Technology Department | |||
| Sales Planning Department | |||
| PC Strategic Planning Department | |||
| PS Strategic Planning Department | |||
| Business Management Unit | Content Licensing Group | Media Relation Department | |
| Content Licensing Business Department | |||
| Office of the President | Corporate Planning Department | ||
| New Business Department | |||
| Business Promotion Group | Intellectual Property Department | ||
| Legal Services Department | |||
| Quality Assurance Department | |||
| Business Promotion Department | |||
| Administration Group | General Affairs Department | ||
| Human Ressources Department | |||
| Accounting and Finance Department | |||
| Information Systems Department | |||
Surge label
At the end of 2008, just prior to the release of Afro Samurai, Namco Bandai Games announced the Surge publishing label.[19] The new label was an attempt at creating a separate identity for the company, aimed at a Western audience desiring more mature themes in game content.[20] Following Afro, early press materials indicated that Dead to Rights: Retribution and Splatterhouse would also be released under the Surge label, but neither game ultimately did; both were released with a retro Namco label instead to reflect the series' legacy. As of 2010, Afro is still the only game to have been released as a Surge title. Surge also announced that they will publish 2 Days to Vegas by Steel Monkeys, however the game was never released and is presumed to be cancelled. Tekken 7 is currently Namco's flagship game.
Games
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Corporate Overview". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ↑ "About". Bandai Namco Studios. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- 1 2 Goldfarb, Andrew. "Namco Bandai Changing Name to Bandai Namco". IGN. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ "Strategic Business Units". Bandai Namco. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ Feldman, Curt. "Bandai, Namco to merge". GameSpot. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ Karlin, David. "Bandai and Namco Finalize Merger Details". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ Adams, David. "Namco, Bandai Complete North American Merger". IGN. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ "Namco and Bandai complete merger in North America". GameSpy. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ "Banpresto absorbed by Namco Bandai". Siliconera. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ KatanaXtreme.com – Namco Bandai Games Inc. to Take Over Bandai Networks Co., Ltd.
- ↑ "Most TV commercials for the same product (8 hrs) – regional/Free-to-air". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ "Namco Bandai Games America/Namco Networks merger". Games Industry International. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- 1 2 Gilbert, Ben. "Namco spins off internal dev studios into 'Namco Bandai Studio'". Joystiq. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- 1 2 Romano, Sal. "Namco Bandai opening Singapore and Vancouver studios". Gematsu. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ Long, Niel. "Namco Bandai completes merger of publishing and distribution businesses". EDGE. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ 2014-12-16, Bandai Namco Games changing name to Bandai Namco Entertainment, Gematsu
- ↑ 子会社の社名・英文表記の変更に関するお知らせ (PDF) (in Japanese). Bandai Namco. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ "Organizational Chart". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ McWhertor, Michael. "Namco Bandai Needs Westerners, Plans "Surge"". Kotaku.
- ↑ Sheffield, Brandon. "Q&A: Namco Bandai's Iwai Talks Tricky Topics In Western Markets". Gamasutra.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Namco Bandai. |
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