Bandai Namco Entertainment has opened up a new company situated in Barcelona, Spain. Named Bandai Namco Mobile, the new company is set to focus on the development and marketing of mobile entertainment outside of the Asian market, also hoping to grow the Network Entertainment Unit within the Bandai Namco Group, unifying the overseas mobile development and marketing efforts, making for more flexible and collaborative efforts for the expanding Western audience.
"Setting up a separate company for all our western mobile development and marketing allows us to react better to market tendencies and create higher quality content at a faster pace, as part of our long term vision for the business," said Naoki Katashima, CEO of Bandai Namco Europe, America, and Mobile. "We hope you look forward to great entertainment delivered by Bandai Namco Mobile."
Barcelona is quickly accelerating as a global point of interest for game development, as the city has many massive divisions of game companies situated there already, from Activision Blizzard all the way to Ubisoft, so the addition of a Bandai Namco company is not surprising.
"The choice to settle in Barcelona was not a difficult one," explained Tatsuya Kuboat, COO of Bandai Namco Mobile. "The city is not only one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it's also the hotbed for international video gamer development and home to the best talent the mobile industry has to offer."
Bandai Namco Mobile is set to open its doors officially in 2020, although the hiring process is scheduled to begin within the coming months.
Just recently Bandai Namco also revealed interactive tori toys, combining physical toys and mobile apps to encourage creativity in players.
Do you think mobile games are the right direction for Bandai Namco to take?