Namco Bandai takes over Codemasters’ UK distribution duties

Having already handled much of Codemasters’ European distribution, Namco Bandai has now taken control of the publisher’s UK distribution as well.

It’s an expansion of a deal that first arose in 2010, and not as some may fear a first move toward the closure of Codemasters’ publishing business.

There has been no change to Codemasters as a publisher, Codemasters Racing still a publishing label and global marketing still led from Codemasters,” a spokesperson for the company told MCV. It’s an extension of the territory level sales and distribution partnership we’ve had in place with Namco Bandai for past two years.”

Namco Bandai will now handle Grid 2 in the UK as well as other key European territories. The deal covers all forthcoming games from Codemasters and Codemasters Racing, including unannounced releases.

As the dynamics of interactive entertainment change and evolve, then the shift to collaborative support via structured agile partnerships, which extend cost efficiencies and provide for stronger alliances, is the way forward,” Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens stated.

We have progressed our relationship with Namco Bandai Partners for more than two years and, during that time, we have expanded territorial reach, which has worked well. We are now able to build on this and further extend our relationship to embrace more countries, including the UK and functions.

By working together in this fashion we play to each other’s strengths and are trailblazing an arrangement which is likely to become more prevalent in a borderless industry.”

Namco Bandai Europe’s VP of third parties Alberto Gonzlez Lorca stated added: Our partnership with Codemasters started a few years ago with a few number of territories. Throughout the years, we have built a trustworthy relationship leading us to add key countries every year in our partnership.

Today we are taking a new step by adding the United Kingdom and Ireland to our distribution agreement offering Codemasters the full potential of our network but also support in marketing and communication.”