also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese multinational

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in

Minato, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The modern Minato ward exhibits ...

, formed from the merger of

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

and

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiung, ...

on September 29, 2005. The company specializes in

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s, arcades,

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

, and

amusement parks An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

. The company's headquarters are in

. Their US branch, Bandai Namco Holdings USA, was officially formed on January 6, 2008, and handles the US operations of the company from their headquarters in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...

. As of 2017, Bandai Namco is the world's largest toy company, earning in annual revenue.

History

Namco Bandai Holdings was created in 2005, when toy maker

and video game developer

performed a management integration. Officially, Namco was purchased by Bandai for $1.7 billion. 57% of the company's holding went to Bandai while 43% went to Namco. Furthermore, Bandai swapped one of its shares for 1.5 shares of the new Namco Bandai. Namco traded evenly with a one-for-one share, carried out via a share exchange. The shareholders of Namco received one NBHD share for each Namco share and the shareholders of Bandai received 1.5 NBHD shares for each Bandai share. Prior to the merger, Bandai and Namco had various subsidiaries that worked under them. After the merger of Bandai Namco, the respective Bandai and Namco subsidiaries were re-designated into different areas of the combined conglomerate. On March 31, 2006, Namco merged with Bandai's video game operations to form Namco Bandai Games. Namco's video arcade and amusement park divisions were spun-off into a new subsidiary that retained the Namco branding. In September 2006, BNHD acquired CCP Co., Ltd. from

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. I ...

and made it a wholly owned subsidiary. BNHD have since fully acquired developers

Banpresto (formerly Coreland Technology Inc.) was a Japanese video game video game development, developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in t ...

(whose video game operations were absorbed into Bandai Namco Games on April 1, 2008) and

Namco Tales Studio , formerly known as , was a Japanese video game development company founded in 1986. The company was renamed in 2003 when Telenet Japan sold part of its stake and made Namco the majority shareholder. Namco Tales Studio was originally the primary d ...

since the merger. Formerly, both were partially owned by Bandai and Namco respectively. The business of Bandai Networks Co., Ltd. was merged into Bandai Namco Games in April 2009 and Bandai Networks subsequently ceased to exist as a separate company. Namco Bandai bought a 34% stake in Atari Europe on May 14, 2009, paving the way for its acquisition from

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. ...

. Until June 30, 2012, Infogrames had the option to sell the other 66% in Atari Europe to NBHD. Between June 31, 2012, to June 20, 2013, Bandai Namco gained the option to acquire the 66% stake. On July 7, 2009, Bandai Namco Holdings bought 100% of Atari Australia Pty Ltd. BNHD acquired 100% of the shares of Atari Asia Holdings Pty. Ltd. and 100% of the shares of Atari UK Ltd. Bandai Namco acquired D3 Inc., the parent company of

D3 Publisher is a Japanese video game developer and publisher founded on February 5, 1992. The company is known for the ''Simple'' series of budget-priced video games. Their games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Ni ...

, on March 18, 2009, after first acquiring a 95% stake in the company. In August 2013, Bandai Namco opened a studio in Vancouver, broadening its reach for western demographics. In October 2019, Bandai Namco Holdings announced plans to acquire

Sotsu is a Japanese advertising agency and, since March 2020, a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings, having substantial relations with it before the acquisition, especially with its now-corporate sibling, Sunrise. History It was founded in 1965 as , ...

, a move which will grant the company rights to the entire ''

Gundam is a Japanese military fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ''Mobile ...

'' franchise, which the company already holds part of due to owning the studio

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

and due to

being one of the producers of the series. The company acquired minority stake in Limbic Entertainment in February 2021. The company unveiled a new logo and a new mission statement in September 2021 which will be implemented starting in April 1, 2022, to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the founding as Bandai five years before the founding of Namco. The company's updated purpose was "the idea of connecting and working together to create things", and plans to work with fans of their games through communication to help plan how the company will go forward. As part of that, the new logo is based on a ''fukidashi'', a

speech bubble Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing a charac ...

that represents both the worldwide influence of Japanese manga as well as their efforts to be communicative with players. On February 8, 2022, the company changed the color of their new logo from magenta to red. In July 2022, Bandai Namco confirmed that an unspecified party hacked the company, gaining unauthorized access to internal systems to multiple groups in Asia outside Japan.

Corporate structure

Bandai Namco Holdings is headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Mita Building in

, Japan. Its North American branch, Bandai Namco Holdings USA, has offices in Anaheim and El Segundo (both in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

). The company's European and Asian divisions, Bandai Namco Holdings UK and Bandai Namco Holdings Asia, are respectively headquartered in

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...

and

Central, Hong Kong Central (also Central District) is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon ...

. Bandai Namco Holdings is headed by president Mitsuaki Taguchi and chairman Shukuo Ishikawa, both of whom took their respective positions in 2018. The company's corporate structure is grounded in the relationships between its employees and subsidiaries; Bandai Namco believes that the health and motivation of its employees is necessary to sustain operations, as it allows for additional creative freedom in its array of products. As of 2019, Bandai Namco is the world's largest toy company by revenue, having accumulated over $6.5 billion. It is among the largest and most profitable companies in Japan with over 189.8 billion as of 2020. In February 2021, Bandai Namco Holdings announced the merger of its business units. As part of the changes to be done in April 2021, it will reduce its operating units from five to three. Toys & Hobby and Network Entertainment Unit (video games) merged to form Entertainment Unit, Visual and Music Production Unit (production and distribution of anime and music) and IP Creation Unit (Production of anime) merged to form IP Production Unit and Real Entertainment Unit was renamed Amusement Unit (theme parks).

Content units and subsidiaries

Sumitomo Fudosan Mita Building (2017-12-28) 1

Bandai Namco Holdings is structured into six product areas known as Content Units: Toys and Hobby (toys), Network Entertainment (video games), Real Entertainment (amusement parks), Visual and Music Production (anime and music albums), IP Creation (creation of new intellectual properties), and Affiliated Business (supporting companies). The Network Entertainment Unit serves as the core area of the company, where it is led by Bandai Namco Entertainment, the company's video game publishing arm. Bandai Namco Entertainment owns multiple subsidiaries, including Bandai Namco Studios, B.B. Studio, and

, all of which develop video games for home video game systems and cellular phones across the world. It holds multiple international divisions itself, including offices in the United States, Europe, and Taiwan. The Toy and Hobby Unit is led by

, who designs toys and electronic devices based on licenses such as '' Dragon Ball'', ''

'', and '' Sailor Moon''. Bandai Spirits designs toys intended for more mature audiences, alongside prizes for video arcades. MegaHouse designs figurines and toys for candy machines, as does Heart Corporation for seasonal events. Other companies under the unit include Seeds, which produces medical equipment; Plex, a designer of toys based on licensed characters; Sun-Star, which designs and distributes

stationery Stationery refers to commercially manufactured writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery includes materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter pape ...

to consumers and Japanese school systems; CCP, a producer of sundries and consumer electronics; and Banpresto Sales, a distributor of prizes for arcades. Bandai Namco Amusement, known as simply Namco until 2018, heads the Real Entertainment Unit. Amusement designs arcade games and maintains the company's amusement parks, including Namco Namja Town, Wonder Bowl, and its VR Zone locations. Video games designed by Amusement include ''

Time Crisis 5 ''Time Crisis'' is a first-person on-rails light gun shooter series of arcade video games by Namco, introduced in 1995. It is focused on the exploits of a fictional international intelligence agency who assigns its best agents to deal with a m ...

'', '' Star Wars Battle Pod'', ''Pac-Man Racing'', and ''Galaga Fever''. In addition, Amusement provides services for Bandai Namco's "Banacoin" digital currency platform and mobile applications to promote events at its arcades. Assisting the company are Bandai Namco Technica and Bandai Namco Amusement Lab, which provide repair services and research & development (R&D) operations respectively.

Hanayashiki is an amusement park in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo that has operated since 1853. It is operated by Hanayashiki Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. It is claimed to be the oldest amusement park in Japan. One of the unofficial mascots ...

Co., Ltd. operates Japan's oldest surviving theme park of the same name, while PleasureCast maintains and opens amusement centers across Japan. The Visual and Music Production is hemmed by Bandai Namco Arts and

Actas is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1998. It is currently a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Filmworks, which in turn is a subsidiary to Bandai Namco Holdings. History Actas was founded on July 6, 1998, by Hiroshi Katō and Jūtarō Ōba, who pr ...

, anime production studios; Highway Star, a music artist manager; and Bandai Namco Live Creative, handling ticket sales and production of live concerts. Sunrise, a Japanese anime studio known for productions such as ''

Mobile Suit Gundam , also known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is an anime television series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcastin ...

'' and '' Cowboy Bebop'', is the center of the IP Creation Unit. Sunrise holds three subsidiaries—music copyright manager Sunrise Music, animation planner Sunrise Beyond, and production house

Bandai Namco Pictures , also known as BN Pictures, is a Japanese animation studio and production company. It is a spinoff of Bandai Namco Filmworks (formerly known as Sunrise), a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. The company was formed as a part of the medium-term ...

—which are also part of the unit.

is an advertising agency that also provides planning and productions for anime series such as ''Gundam''. Bandai Namco's Affiliated Business comprises companies that provide additional support and resources. Companies under this unit include the product distributors Bandai Logipal and Logipal Express, finance manager Bandai Namco Business Arc, day care facility operator Kaikaya, toy distributor

Happinet is an entertainment company. History In February 1968, Hiroshi Kawai left Bandai to establish his own toy business. Kawai founded on June 7, 1969. In September 1972, it changed its name to . Tōshō merged with two other companies, and , to ...

, graphic design studio Artpresto, and

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

supporter Bandai Namco Will.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Anime companies Conglomerate companies based in Tokyo Conglomerate companies established in 2005 Conglomerate companies of Japan Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Entertainment companies of Japan Entertainment companies established in 2005 Holding companies based in Tokyo Holding companies established in 2005 Japanese companies established in 2005 Keiretsu Manufacturing companies established in 2005 Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo Mass media companies established in 2005 Mass media companies of Japan Mass media companies based in Tokyo Multinational companies headquartered in Japan Video game companies established in 2005 Video game companies of Japan