Namco Bandai founds new company to handle all development

Namco Bandai has spun off all of its development duties to a newly founded company: Namco Bandai Studio.

The new arm will take on all development responsibilities, dealing with all current IP and the generation of new franchises.

Amalgamating the publisher's current raft of studios in this way will create a studio of over 1000 people, based in Shinagawa, Japan. The studio will be lead by Hajime Nakatani.

By focusing its development in this way, Namco Bandai hopes to foster a more creative and efficient environment with a culture of free-flowing ideas. Existing major IPs at the publisher include Tekken, Soul Calibur, Taiko Drum Master, the Tales series and Gundam.

Towards the end of last year, Namco Bandai officially fully absorbed the Tales Studio, after a long period of acting as major shareholder.

Recent financial reports for the publisher have been strong, leading it to increases in both profits and sales.