History
Established on March 31, 2006, Namco Bandai Games was the amalgamation of Namco and Bandai's video game development operations being merged and consolidated into one company.[3][4] The developer produced the majority of its video games in-house, through its subsidiaries such as Banpresto and D3 Publisher,[5][6] or lending production to external studios. However, as the company was recovering from financial losses and was undergoing a reorganization, Namco Bandai Games believed it was necessary to spin off its game development operations into a separate division.[7] The company requested for faster development times and healthy relations between its multiple business areas, and believed the formation of a new company would remedy this.[8] Namco Bandai's video game operations were transferred to a new subsidiary, Namco Bandai Studios Inc., on April 2, 2012.[8][9] Located in Shinagawa, Tokyo, the company was headed by company veteran Hajime Nakatani and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Games.[10] Its parent company stated that Studios would allow for faster development times, tighter cohesion with aligning production teams, and more creative freedom and developer skills for its employees.[8][11] Namco Bandai's consecutive financial increases in its year-over-year profits also contributed to its establishment.[12] Studios inherited 1,000 employees from Namco Bandai Games and all 80 staff members from the former Namco Tales Studio, which ceased operations a year earlier.[8]
Namco Bandai Studios opened two international divisions on March 1, 2013: Namco Bandai Studios Singapore Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, and Namco Bandai Studios Vancouver Inc. in Vancouver, Canada.[15] The Singapore division was assigned as Namco Bandai's head video game development branch in Asia, and to establish working relationships with fellow developers in the region.[15] The Vancouver division was to design online network games and provide content for North America and Europe, while simultaneously focusing on contributing to the country's growing game industry.[15] Namco Bandai Studios Singapore employed several staff members from the Singapore division of LucasArts, who had previously worked on the cancelled Star Wars 1313. Its Japanese division established a working relationship with Nintendo with Wii Sports Club, a high-definition remaster of the original Wii Sports (2006) for the Wii U; several Nintendo games to follow were developed by Bandai Namco Studios, including Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014), Pokkén Tournament (2015), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) and New Pokémon Snap (2021).[16]
On April 1, 2014, Namco Bandai Studios was renamed Bandai Namco Studios Inc., following an effort by its parent company to unify the Bandai Namco brand across its international divisions.[17] The company began development on virtual reality arcade games the same month, which were designed for Bandai Namco Entertainment's VR Zone chain of video arcades. In 2016, Bandai Namco Studios released Summer Lesson, a virtual reality game designed for the PlayStation VR headset. The Vancouver division closed on November 16, 2018, though a "skeleton crew" was kept to support Tekken Mobile, while a Malaysia division was opened in Selangor in 2016.[18] Bandai Namco Studios won the "Grand Prize" award at the Japan Game Awards for its work on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as well as the "Japan Game Awards 2019 Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award" from the organization.[19] Bandai Namco Research Inc. was established in 2019 with some of the research and development departments of Bandai Namco Studios being transferred to this completely new company.[20]
In October 2021, Bandai Namco Studios announced the establishment of the indie label GYAAR Studio within the studio. They plan to release at least one independent game title per year, where each title will be developed by a team of creators from among the studio's young staff. Their first game Survival Quiz City will be published by Phoenixx.[21]
On November 14, 2023, Bandai Namco Studios revealed for the first time that they now have two dedicated teams called Studio 2 and Studio S for commissioned projects for other publishers, with Nintendo being the main contributor for the past works and likely for future works. Studio S has focused on supporting the Mario Kart series since 2014 as well as Arms, while Studio 2 has been mainly involved in the Super Smash Bros. series since the 4th installment as the lead development studio.[22]
In July 2024, B.B. Studio, which was in the past a subsidiary of parent company Bandai Namco Entertainment became a direct subsidiary of Bandai Namco Studios.[23] On March 3, 2025, Bandai Namco announced the change of name of B.B. Studio to Bandai Namco Forge Digitals.[24]
In November 2025, Bandai Namco sold 80% of Bandai Namco Studios Singapore to Nintendo, with the latter becoming a subsidiary of Nintendo as Nintendo Studios Singapore.[25]
