Bandai Namco Entertianment is an ever-growing presence in the games publishing scene, and it seems like they only plan on expanding with new IP in the near future. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, European Digital and Marketing VP Hervé Hoerdt stated that the studio wants 50% of the studio’s games and business to be from new IP.
The publisher definitely doesn’t have a lack of established IP to pull from, as they own popular series like Pac-Man, Tales, SoulCalibur, Tekken, and Ace Combat. That being said, they have made an effort to create several new IP in recent years with games like Little Nightmares, Get Even, 11-11: Memories Retold, Twin Mirror, and Code Vein.
According to Hervé Hoerdt, Bandai Namco Entertainment is shifting its focus to new IP as it will make the business more sustainable as they are working with their own properties. They will also use these IPs to spread into new genres and markets, and can “explore the IP in 360 degrees” as they are also an entertainment and toy company outside of gaming:
“We want 50 per cent of our business to come from new IPs,” he says. “Why is this? First, it’s to build a sustainable business because most of our IPs are franchises and licences. To be a sustainable business, you need to have your own IP; every publisher is building their own IP. The other thing is the IP we have are always reaching the same marketing segment, like fighting and anime, but there’s much more to do in the video game market, much bigger genres.
Last but not least, we’re an entertainment company not just a video game company. We’re looking to explore those IP in 360-degrees. This is not something we can do with a licensed franchise like Naruto. If you look at Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, we’re already a licensee. We want to create IP that we can explore in 360-degrees, like we’re doing with Little Nightmares, for example. There are a lot of things to come from this IP, and it’s no secret we’re talking with people around the world to make a movie out of it. At some point there might be other opportunities like escape rooms, and stuff like that…
[We have] a clear vision of our limits as a company and we’re working on those limits. Every limit we push is turning into business and more consumers, which means more people engaged. It’s not about money or business, it’s about creating brands that people love and having more consumers around the world engage with them and experience them in 360-degrees.”
He also stated that Bandai Namco would like 50% of its titles to be developed by western studios, and that the publisher is aiming to achieve these goals “within the next decade.” They meet with “over 200” developers every year, and recently created a IP creation unit in order to come up with new ideas. That being said, the company doesn’t plan on completely shifting away from licensed games anytime soon, as one of their most anticipated titles is Jump Force.
DualShockers will be sure to let you know when Bandai Namco Entertainment announces more new IP, but in the meantime you can pre-order new games like Code Vein on Amazon.