Namco reveals ambitious Euro plans

Japanese games giant Namco Bandai wants to be one of Europe’s top five publishers within five years by releasing a string of new Western-specific IP.

The firm’s ambitious plans follow the acquisition of Atari’s European distribution business in July, and a series of new game announcements at last week’s Gamescom event.

During the Cologne-based consumer and trade show, Namco Bandai revealed they would be publishing movie tie-in Clash of the Titans and Game Republic’s Majin: The Fallen Realm. It also announced a partnership with Heavenly Sword developer, Ninja Theory.

This is only the starting point,” Namco Bandai Partners’ vice president of UK and Nordic John Galloway told MCV.

Going forward there will be heavy investment into game development more suited for European gamers. This makes Namco Bandai a formidable force going forward.

We aim to grow our market share to be one of the top five publishers in Europe over the next three to five years. To achieve this we will deliver on great game quality, something Namco Bandai has always done, and more mass market products to compete in this market space.”

Namco Bandai is one of several Japanese games companies looking to grow in Europe, with its acquisition of Atari’s distribution arm following the formation of Tecmo Koei Europe and Square Enix’s buy-out of British publisher Eidos.

Japanese companies need to grow out of Japan, and Europe is the next key market,” added Galloway.

For many years they have released their games via a distribution company and Europe responded very well in terms of sales – sometimes better than the US. It is an obvious next move for them.”