Nintendo has entered into an agreement with Bandai Namco to buy out all of its shares in its Bandai Namco Singapore development studio, bringing it under Nintendo's umbrella by spring 2026. Nintendo and Bandai Namco have demonstrated a long history of cooperation with each other, and this business deal should open up new opportunities for the Switch 2's future.
Bandai Namco's Singapore-based operations were established in 2013 to boost game development in Asia, while a Vancouver-based branch was established to cover the Western market. By far its biggest sales success has been Splatoon 3which was developed in collaboration with Nintendo EPD and released in September 2022 exclusively for Nintendo Switch. The Singapore studio has also led some solo developments of late-stage entries in some popular series, with credits for Soul Calibur 6, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknownand Taiko no Tatsujin: VR Festival under his belt.
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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: VR Festival
Nintendo has officially announced that it will acquire the majority stake in Bandai Namco Singapore early next year. According to a press release, 80 percent of the studio's shares will end up in Nintendo's possession on April 1, 2026, with the remaining 20 percent planned to be transferred under Nintendo's control at an unspecified date that will occur after time has been granted for stabilization of the studio. The acquisition of the studio, which will be renamed Nintendo Studios Singapore, is only expected to have a “minor effect” on Nintendo's finances for the current financial year, but it opens up many possibilities for the future, especially given the end of regular updates for Splatoon 3 was announced more than a year ago.
Compared to rival console developers Sony and Microsoft, Nintedo has not been nearly as active in the industry in 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 also grown in recent years, most prominently with its $75.4 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard, which was completed in 2023 and brought massive franchises with it. Call of Duty, Warcraftand Diablo under its banner.
Meanwhile, one of Nintendo's last major acquisitions 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 The legacy of Hogwarts, Mortal Kombat 1and entries in Guitar Hero peries to new platforms. Later that year, Nintendo fully acquired Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolift Soft, although it had already owned 96 percent of the company as of 2011. Other game-based acquisitions by Nintendo this decade include SRD, a company that has assisted Nintendo in creation since the days of the NES, and Next Level Games, which is the primary developer of Luigi's Mansion 3several Mario Strikers game, Metroid Prime: Federation Forceand 2009 Punch Out for the Wii. Additionally, Nintendo's 2022 acquisition of the animation studio formerly known as Dynamo Pictures has given it credits in games, anime, and short films, including a link to Death Stranding 2 through his motion capture work.
The business deal between Nintendo and Bandai Namco could be a sign that the former is ready to step up in the stacked competition presented by other first-party developers. While the Switch 2 outsells the PS5 and Xbox Series X, Nintendo lost one of its most well-known third-party developers when Microsoft acquired Rare in 2002 for $375 million after Nintendo turned down a similar deal. With the recent success of Donkey Kong Bananamany fans' minds have been drawn back to Rare's glory days with Donkey Kong Country series on the SNES and N64, and the establishment of Nintendo Studios Singapore may be intended to protect Splatoon franchise from a similar future.
