Bandai Namco
| Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Type | Subsidiary | ||
| Founded | July 5, 1950 (Bandai) June 1, 1955 (Namco) March 31, 2006 (merger of Bandai and Namco’s game business divisions) | ||
| Headquarters |  Minato, Tokyo | ||
| Industry | Video Games | ||
| Products | Various Home Video Games | ||
| Employees | 11,057(2023) | ||
| Parent | Bandai Namco Group | ||
| Website | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. | ||
| Article on Wikipedia | Bandai Namco Entertainment | ||
Bandai Namco (株式会社バンダイナムコエンターテインメント,Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.), formerly namedBANDAI NAMCO Games Inc., stylized as "NAMCO BANDAI Games" "NBGI" "BNEI", is an arcade, mobile and home video game developer and publisher based in Japan. It is a merger between the video game divisions ofBandai andNamco.
History[edit]
Bandai was conceived in the late 1940s as a division of a textile wholesale business, focused on development and distribution of toys. It officially spun off into an independent company by Naoharu Yamashina on July 5th, 1950, after which it rose to fame as a world leader in the toy and prize machine industries, as well as achieving modest success in publishing video games throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with their most dominant titles being licensed games of several manga, anime, and television programs. Bandai is also well-known for its digital pet franchisesTamagotchi andDigimon.
Namco was formed byMasaya Nakamura on June 1st, 1955 as a developer of coin-operated amusement machines before fully shifting development into video games with its acquisition of Atari Japan in 1974. Along with publishing Atari-developed games in Japan, Namco would start producing their own franchises. To many, Namco is best known as one of the most prolific publishers of the "golden age" of video games, producing arcade hits such asGalaxian,Pac-Man,Dig Dug,Mappy,Rally-X, andThe Tower of Druaga. Later successes of theirs includeRidge Racer,Tekken,Ace Combat, theTales series,Klonoa andTaiko no Tatsujin.
The merger between the two companies was officially made on March 31st, 2006. Both companies cited advancements in technology and declining birth rates in Japan as reasons for the merge, requiring them to remain relevant in the modern age. In its current form, the company is known for developing RPG games like theTales series, fighting games such as theTekken andSoulcalibur series, and numerous licensed games based on manga and anime franchises such as those fromWeekly Shōnen Jump.
Bandai Namco is the head developer forSuper Smash Bros. 4 andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, along withSora Ltd. Several items and characters from some of Namco's games, such asGalaga andRally-X, appear inSSB4 andUltimate.[1] A full list of Namco properties represented inSmash can be foundhere.
Outside ofSuper Smash Bros., Bandai Namco has made several games in collaboration with Nintendo, such as theMario Baseball series, theDonkey Konga series,Star Fox: Assault, theMario Kart arcade games (in addition to assisting with8 andTour),New Pokémon Snap, andPokkén Tournament, aTekken-like fighting game featuring playablePokémon as fighters.
On November 13th, 2023, it was announced that the Bandai Namco team that works on theSuper Smash Bros. series was given the designation of Studio 2 & Studio S and would continue to work on contracted projects, chiefly from Nintendo, long-term.[2] The group has worked on previous titles published by Nintendo, including the aforementioned titles andARMS. On April 3rd, 2025, Masahiro Sakurai confirmed that he was working with Bandai Namco Studios onKirby Air Riders, though it is unknown what internal team is on the project. On November 27, 2025, Nintendo acquired Bandai Namco Singapore, now named Nintendo Studios Singapore; 80% of its shares on that day, and the remaining 20% at a later date.[3]
InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
Pac-Man was considered as a playable fighter, but was abandoned early in development.
TheDonkey Konga series, also developed by Namco, receives representation throughDonkey Kong's Final Smash,Konga Beat, as well as three stickers: Dixie Kong fromDonkey Konga 2, and Funky Kong and Cranky Kong fromDonkey Konga 3 (referred to in-game asDonkey Konga 3 JP).
Mario Superstar Baseball, another Namco developed game, also received content via several stickers.
Star Fox: Assault, another Namco developed game, received a substantial amount of representation, includingLylat Cruise taking inspiration from this game, Fox, Falco, and Wolf having costumes, trophies, and Final Smashes based on their appearances in this game, and Panther Caroso appearing as both a trophy and a sticker. Many stickers use artwork from this game. The songs "Star Wolf", "Space Battleground" and "Break: Through the Ice" are sourced from this game.
InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]
Bandai Namco was selected by Masahiro Sakurai to be the lead developer of the 3DS and Wii U version alongsideSora Ltd. Bandai Namco's mascot,Pac-Man, appears as a playable character. Pac-Man can also make characters and items from other Namco series appear by using his up taunt,Namco Roulette, and his neutral special,Bonus Fruit. The Ghosts appear as anAssist Trophy rather than a stage hazard.Boss Galagas, a type of enemy in Namco'sGalaga series, as well theSpecial Flag, a collectible from numerous Namco games, also appear inSuper Smash Bros. 4 asitems. 11 music tracks from various Namco games appear, along with numerous trophies.Mii Fighter costumes based onHeihachi Mishima of theTekken series,Lloyd Irving of theTales series, andGil fromThe Tower of Druaga are available asdownloadable content.
Very early in the conceptual phase forSSB4, Sakurai briefly contemplated the inclusion of other Namco characters, but he made the decision to go with Pac-Man only almost immediately. In particular, he namedTekken's Heihachi as a character who came to mind, but wrote him off as his complex moveset would have been too difficult to effectively translate toSmash Bros.[4]
Fox's yellow costume and custom special moves that charge the blaster are based on his appearance inStar Fox: Assault. The three songs fromBrawl make a return.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS[edit]
The 3DS version features the stagePac-Maze, which essentially simulates a game of Pac-Man, allowing each player to collect Pac-Dots and Power Pellets, run from and chase Ghosts. It even saves their high score and displays it at the top of the screen. Some trophies appear exclusively on 3DS.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]
In the Wii U version, the stagePac-Land appears, based on the arcade game of the same name. Some trophies and their correspondingTrophy Boxes appear exclusively on Wii U. The NES version of Pac-Man appears as aMasterpiece.
Orbital Gate Assault is based on the mission of the same name inStar Fox Assault. Arwing (Assault), Orbital Gate, Wolfen (Assault), Aparoid, and Aparoid Queen appear as trophies.
InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
Bandai Namco returns as lead developer alongside Sora Ltd.Pac-Man returns from the previous game as a playable fighter. Pac-Land returns from the Wii U version, while the Boss Galaga and Special flag items return, along with the Ghost Assist Trophy. 11 new and old music tracks from various Namco games (now all under the Pac-Man category) appear alongside numerousspirits.Mii Fighter costumes based onHeihachi Mishima of theTekken series,Gil fromThe Tower of Druaga, andLloyd fromTales of Symphonia are available asdownloadable content. As part of Fighters Pass Vol. 2,Kazuya Mishima from theTekken series appears as a new fighter as part of Challenger Pack 10, which also includes theMishima Dojo stage, as well as several music tracks and spirits from theTekken franchise.
The three songs sourced fromStar Fox: Assault that debuted inBrawl reappear inUltimate. Fox's green costume and Wolf's red and pink costumes reference this game. Panther Caroso and an Aparoid appear as Spirits. Several other spirits use artwork from this game.
Gallery[edit]
Bandai's logo
Namco's logo
Logo from 2015 to 2022.
Trivia[edit]
- As ofUltimate, Bandai Namco has been the head developer for more games in theSuper Smash Bros. series than any other single developer, being the primary studio behind3DS,Wii U andUltimate, one more thanHAL Laboratory who developed boththe original Nintendo 64 game andMelee.
References[edit]
 | Bulbapedia has an article onBandai Namco. |
 | Super Mario Wiki has an article onBandai Namco Entertainment. |
 | Xeno Series Wiki has an article onNamco. |
| Companies involved in theSuper Smash Bros. series | |
|---|---|
| First- and second-party | Nintendo (Monolith Soft ·Retro Studios) ·HAL Laboratory ·Game Freak ·Creatures ·Intelligent Systems ·Rare Ltd. ·Sora Ltd. |
| Third-party | Konami ·Sega (Atlus) ·PlatinumGames ·Capcom ·Bandai Namco ·Square Enix ·Microsoft (Rare Ltd. ·Mojang Studios) ·SNK ·Disney |
| Other related | Game Arts ·Hatena ·Havok ·Paon DP ·Tri-Crescendo ·List of companies with minor representation |
