Nintendo has struck a deal with Bandai Namco to buy out all of its shares in its development studio Bandai Namco Singapore, bringing it under Nintendo by spring 2026. Nintendo and Bandai Namco have a long history of working together, and this business deal should open up new possibilities for the Switch 2's future.
Bandai Namco's Singapore-based operations were established in 2013 to accelerate game development in Asia, while at the same time a Vancouver branch was established to cover the western market. It was his biggest sales success to date Splatoon 3which was developed in collaboration with Nintendo EPD and released in September 2022 exclusively for Nintendo Switch. The Singaporean studio also led several solo developments of late entries in several popular series, with credits Soul Calibur 6, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknownand Taiko no Tatsujin Festival: VR below his belt.
Nintendo reminds fans of 10 big upcoming games for the Switch console
Nintendo is focusing on 10 games that are on the way, some for the original Switch and some for the Switch 2.
Games developed by Bandai Namco Singapore
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Splatoon 3 (with Nintendo EPD)
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Soul Calibur 6
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Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
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Taiko no Tatsujin Festival: VR
Nintendo has officially announced that it will acquire a majority stake in Bandai Namco Singapore early next year. According to the press release, 80 percent of the studio's shares will become Nintendo's ownership on April 1, 2026, with the remaining 20 percent planned to be transferred to Nintendo's control at an unspecified date that will occur after time has been given to stabilize the studio. The acquisition of the studio, which will be renamed Nintendo Studios Singapore, is expected to have only a “minor impact” on Nintendo's financials in the current fiscal year, but opens up a lot of possibilities for the future, especially with the end of regular updates for Splatoon 3 was announced over a year ago.
Compared to rival console developers Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo has not been nearly as active in the business of acquiring new development studios. Sony has more than 20 first-party development studios, notably adding Bungie and Firewalk Studios to the list in 2023 and Kadokawa Corporation in 2024. Likewise, the Xbox brand has been growing in recent years, most notably thanks to its $75.4 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard, which was completed in 2023 and brought massive franchises. Call of Duty, Warcraftand Diablo under his banner.
Meanwhile, one of Nintendo's last big pickups was in May 2024 when it struck a deal with Embracer Group to acquire Shiver Entertainment, a company best known for porting games such as Hogwarts heritage, Mortal Kombat 1and records in Guitar Hero sto new platforms. It was fully acquired by Nintendo later that year Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolift Soft, although as of 2011 it already owned 96 percent of the company. Nintendo's other gaming acquisitions this decade include SRD, a company that has helped Nintendo since the NES, and Next Level Games, which is the primary developer Luigi's Mansion 3multiple Mario Strikers games, Metroid Prime: The Force of the Federationand the year 2009 Punch-out for Wii. In addition to Nintendo's 2022 takeover of the animation studio formerly known as Dynamo Pictures, it has gained its credits in games, anime, and short films, including providing a link to Death Stranding 2 through his motion capture work.
The business deal between Nintendo and Bandai Namco could be a sign that Bandai Namco is ready to step up to the stacked competition of other first-party developers. While the Switch 2 outsells the PS5 and Xbox Series X, Nintendo famously lost one of its best-known second-party developers when Microsoft acquired Rare for $375 million in 2002 after Nintendo turned down a similar deal. With recent success Donkey Kong Bananamany fans' thoughts went back to the glory days of Rare s Donkey Kong Land series on the SNES and N64, and the establishment of Nintendo Studios Singapore could serve as protection Splatoon franchise from a similar future.
