Foundation: 2005
Headquarters: Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo
President: Yasuo Miyagawa
Executive Summary: Bandai Namco was formed in September 2005, following a corporate merger between Namco, a video game developer and publisher, and Bandai, a toy maker and a producer of plastic model kits and a former video game company. Its headquarters are located in Minato Ward, Tokyo, while its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Lyon, France. The company’s original name upon its founding was Namco Bandai, but this was changed in 2014 as the company began to further expand in the Western market and establish its footing within the industry. The core video game development studio of Bandai Namco Entertainment is Bandai Namco Studios, established in April 2012 as a separate company. Bandai Namco Studios creates video games for home consoles, handheld systems, mobile devices, and arcade hardware, while Bandai Namco Entertainment handles the management, marketing, and publishing of these products. Bandai Namco owns several multi-million video game franchises, including Gundam, Pac-Man, Tekken, Soulcalibur, Tales, Ace Combat, The Idolmaster and Dark Souls. It is the third-largest game company in Japan in terms of revenue and market capitalization, after Sony Interactive Entertainment and Nintendo. Bandai Namco leads other major brands such as Square Enix, Konami, and Sega. The company also owns the licenses to several Japanese media franchises, such as Shonen Jump, Kamen Rider, Sword Art Online, and the Ultra Series. Bandai Namco’s annual income is in the range of US$6 billion.
