Yes,a thousand people. More than that, actually. The teams behindSoul Calibur, Ace Combat, Tekken, Pac-Man, Tales, Naruto, Gundamand countless other NamcoandBandai videogames will be merged together to form the imaginatively named “Namco Bandai Studio”. Starting in April, this new entity will be in charge of managingallgame development responsibilities, including for current franchises and the creation of new IPs. What does this mean for you, the average gamer? Probably not much, since consolidations like this are common, like when Tales Studio got fully absorbed last year.
HOWEVER, if you take into account Namco Bandai’s love ofcrossover-based collaboration, and the possibilities areinfinite…andterrifying. Imagine a hypotheticalSoul Calibursequel, featuring guest fighters from thenextTalesRPG, plusTekkendudes,Pac-Man, Klonoa,Ridge Racerrace queenReiko Nagase, andMissile the Pomeranian fromGhost Trick“because them Capcom guys is good people”. Premium download content turns Nightmare’s Soul Edge sword intoanAce Combatfighter jet with anIdolm@ster-themed paint job. And it all uses theAce Combat Assault Horizonslogan, “Make Metal BLEED.”
