Namco, Bandai Complete U.S. Merger

U.S. company divisions Namco Hometek and Bandai Games Inc. have announced that the integration of their two companies is now complete, and the two companies are now officially known as Namco Bandai Games America Inc. in North America. The parent Japanese company was formally created back in late September 2005, and was first announced last May, when the companies suggested that the declining birth rate in Japan and the diversification of customers’ hobbies and interests made the move a particularly important one for both parties. The U.S division of the company now operates out of the Santa Clara, California facility, formerly held by Namco Hometek, and will continue to publish console and PC games such as recent title SoulCalibur III and forthcoming Flagship-developed game Hellgate: London, as well as integrating Bandai's entertainment and DVD division under the same organization. The company cites some of its combined major brands as including Pac-Man, Tamagotchi, SoulCalibur, Naruto and Tekken, and notes that the full list of Bandai Namco Group US subsidiaries including Bandai America Inc. (Toy), Bandai Entertainment, Inc. (Visual/DVD), Namco America Inc. (Arcade machine), Namco Cybertainment Inc. (Arcade facility), the newly formed Namco Networks America Inc. (Mobile games) and Namco Bandai Games America Inc. (Video games). “We are thrilled that the integration of the two North American entities is now complete and we are all now under one roof,” said Genichi Ito, the new President and CEO of Namco Bandai Games America Inc. “We are proud to be part of the new Namco Bandai Games America family and look forward to a successful year ahead." “The integration of our two companies has been a team effort over the last several months,” said Naruo Uchida, who is joining from Bandai Games Inc. and now serving as the Corporate Planning Senior Vice President of Namco Bandai Games America Inc. “We have worked together to fuse the many strengths each of our companies have to form one strong North American operation.”