Q&A BANDAI NAMCO
whilst maximising our existing properties. This can’t be done in a rush and delivering quality on new hardware is our focus. We are not basing our business around other publishers and what they do or don’t, we are working on our own strategy as a global ‘entertainment company’. We have a strong third-party business and aim to bring some exceptional next-gen titles to the market as if they were our own development. Overall our third- party business is successful and we have some announcements to come at E3.
How has the transition to next-gen impacted your expectations of your 360 and PS3 products? There has been an impact of course, but we focus on making sure we continue to offer a high quality game to a large install- base whilst introducing titles to a younger demographic. The move to next-gen has been impressive but we still have a high install- base of PS3 and 360 consoles worldwide and this cannot be forgotten about. Our core fanbase as well as younger fans still own those consoles.
Smartphone and PC digital have also had an impact of traditional sales of games and boxed goods, however, we still continue to see good sell-through from retail.
You mentioned your new Pac- Man title there. How did that big brand re-launch go for you? We had a strong launch for Pac- Man and the Ghostly Adventures
with a worldwide roll-out on TV for the brilliant animated series. We released the game and toys in some territories and have seen consistently strong sell-through. The licence has only recently been introduced and 41 Entertainment has been working to secure licensing deals worldwide. It’s only the beginning. We’ve heard positive feedback and will be focusing on this franchise for a long time to come. We have a sequel coming later this year in the US, Australia and UK.
FREE THINKING
The move to next-gen has been impressive, but our core fanbase are still playing on PS3 and Xbox 360. Naoki Katashima, Bandai Namco
How much investment are you making in the mobile and tablet space and how has this grown for you across Europe? This is a very important part of our business with our well-known IP like Tekken, Soul Calibur and Ace Combat. We have also released some new IP and will continue to do this for the future. Our focus is to continue to deliver unique experience and introduce games based on our IP such as Tekken Card Tournament, which has over 7m downloads. It’s an area we invest a lot of time in and have done for a while.
Rise of the Incarnates is one of the fi rm’s fi rst original free- to-play titles
A MAJOR area of business for Bandai Namco in recent years has been free-to-play. The firm has been experimenting with the business model around some of its biggest brands, launching titles such as Tekken Revolution, Soul Calibur Lost Swords and Ace Combat Infinity. Last week, however, the company announced an entirely original free-to-play IP, Rise of the Incarnates. “Our existing IP is important,
but new IP is something we will continue to develop and explore for the future,” says Namco Bandai Games Europe CEO Naoki Katashima “Rise of Incarnates is an
interesting PVP game that we’ve designed internally as a PC free-to-play Steam title. The team internally have experience working on some of the best fighting action games such as Tekken and Soul Calibur, and this gave the creative team an opportunity to develop something new and introduce new characters, fighting styles and team-based action. “We understand we cannot
just continue to release games based on existing IP.” The big challenge for anyone
The Witcher 3 is coming to stores in February 2015
developing a free-to-play project in today’s industry is the consumer reaction. Although F2P does pull in huge audiences, there’s often a negative backlash from some consumers to the business model, who feel they are having to ‘pay to win’.
“It’s a tough area and new to a
lot of people,” adds Katashima. “We are clear to consumers
about what we do and there is an element of educating that needs to be done as a result, This is the beauty of the internet and freedom of speech online. We are not moving our complete business over to free-to-play, we are offering
We will continue to be open to what we are releasing but not stop making paid games for all platforms. Naoki Katashima, Bandai Namco
a different way to play and experience our games within particular franchises. “We will continue to be open to
what we are releasing to the fan bases and not stop developing paid for games for current, PC and next gen consoles in box and digital distribution, but we are looking at introducing existing IP and something new to players. “Getting it right is obviously offering the right games first-off that are sticky, addictive, fun and then educating the players as to what they will ultimately end up paying for, or not. We are working hard on this.”
June 6th 2014
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www.mcvuk.com
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