Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.

Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. (officially capitalized BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc.; previously Namco Bandai Games Inc., officially capitalized NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.) is a publisher, created when Namco and Bandai merged their video game divisions in 2006. On April 1, 2015, the company changed its name to Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.. A subsidiary of the entertainment conglomerate Bandai Namco Holdings, Bandai Namco Entertainment is in charge of managing, publishing, and marketing content; while Bandai Namco Studios serves as the company's main game development studio. They have developed several Mario games for Nintendo in the past. Bandai Namco Entertainment has created several successful franchises, including Tekken, Pac-Man, Galaxian, Ace Combat, and Tales.
The first Mario game developed by the company, before the merger, was Mario Superstar Baseball for the Nintendo GameCube. After the merger, they later developed the game's follow-up for the Wii, Mario Super Sluggers. The company produced an arcade cross-over Mario Kart game, which came to be known as Mario Kart Arcade GP, as well as three sequels, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX and Mario Kart Arcade GP VR. These arcade Mario Kart games have featured playable appearances of Pac-Man characters, as well as Mametchi from Tamagotchi and Don-Chan from the Taiko no Tatsujin series. The company also assisted in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart Tour's development, the former of which features a Mii Racing Suit based on Pac-Man. They are the primary developers for Mario Sports Superstars, with Camelot Software Planning co-developing for the tennis and golf segments of the game.
Bandai Namco Games co-developed Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with Sora Ltd.. Their own character, Pac-Man, is featured as a playable fighter those games, with various Namco characters appearing in one of his taunts, and the ghosts Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde appearing as an Assist Trophy. Heihachi Mishima from the Tekken series and Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia are the basis for downloadable costumes for Mii Fighters.
Bandai Namco Holdings owns Banpresto, the publisher of the Japan-only arcade games Mario Undoukai, Būbū Mario, and Super Mario Attack, as well as Tamashii Nations, producers of S.H. Figuarts.
de:Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
ja:バンダイナムコ
Category:Companies