Namco Bandai, the Japanese publisher best known Pac-Man and more recently the Dark Souls series, has opened a new office on Vancouver, Canada. Namco BAndai also published the recently released Tales of Xillia.
The studio will handle social and mobile games for Namco Bandai, and currently employs about 30 employees. Namco Bandai was convinced to open a studio in Vancouver by minister of international Trade, Ed Fast, who speaking with the Vancouver Sun said, “(We) again drove home the fact that Canada is a place that should be their gateway into North America... clearly they listened.”
Canada has become a huge hub for video game developers and publishers over the years. Just looking at the recent list of the 2012 Canada Video Game awards (which are only given to games developed in Canada) shows how many great games are coming out of the country.
[Source: Vancouver Sun via CVG]
Our Take
Expansion is always a good thing, even if personally I would rather see Namco Bandai focusing on its larger games like Tales or Dark Souls. Maybe we will see Tales, Tekken, or Dark Souls mobile games from this studio soon. There is certainly potential there from for some interesting experiences based on Namco Bandai licenses.