Biography
Bandai Namco Studios Inc. (also known as Bandai Namco) is a Japanese video game developer headquartered in Kōtō, Tokyo. Its offices in Malaysia and Singapore, Bandai Namco Studio Malaysia and Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, are based out of Selangor, Malaysia, and Infinite Studios, Singapore respectively. Bandai Namco Studios is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Entertainment, which itself is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. The company works under its parent company as a keiretsu; 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. Bandai Namco Studios was established in April 2012 as the spin-off company of publisher Namco Bandai Games' (now known as Bandai Namco Entertainment) video game development divisions, the decision was based on its parent company's restructuring efforts and the need for a decrease in development times and an increase in productivity. Studios absorbed over 1,000 employees from Namco Bandai Games, and 80 employees from the defunct Namco Tales Studio division. The company opened divisions in Singapore and Vancouver in 2013 to expand operations overseas; the Vancouver division later closed in 2018. Its Malaysia division was established in 2016.
Bandai Namco Studios has worked on many successful video game franchises, including Tekken, Pac-Man, The Idolmaster, Ace Combat, Tales, and Soulcalibur, in addition to original intellectual properties such as Code Vein and Scarlet Nexus. Much like Namco developed games for Nintendo as a publisher since the GameCube, the company has also developed several games for them as Bandai Namco Studios, namely the Super Smash Bros. series beginning with the fourth installment, Wii Sports Club, and spin-offs in the Pokémon franchise like Pokkén Tournament and New Pokémon Snap. The company is a strong advocate of video game preservation, preserving master art, design documents, and other resources for its games.