Nintendo acquires Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, turning it into a subsidiary
The deal will see the studio being renamed to Nintendo Studios Singapore.
Nintendo has announced that it is acquiring Bandai Namco Studios Singapore (BNSS), the local game development arm of Japanese entertainment giant Bandai Namco Group.
As part of this acquisition, BNSS will become a subsidiary of Nintendo, operating under the new name Nintendo Studios Singapore.
Nintendo stated that the acquisition was done “for the purpose of strengthening its development structure”. It noted that both companies have an existing a business relationship, with some of the games in BNSS’s portfolio including the Nintendo-published Splatoon 3. As for what Nintendo expects BNSS to bring to the table, it noted that the studio had “strong expertise in creating in-game art assets”.
Nintendo stated that it intends to acquire 80% of BNSS’s shares on 1 April 2026. The remaining shares will be acquired sometime after April, once operations in the new subsidiary stabilise.
Nintendo noted an ongoing business relationship with BNSS, including for the Splatoon series.
Nintendo isn’t exactly known for acquiring dev studios all that often, which makes the acquisition of a local studio even more compelling. Notably, Nintendo’s most recent quarterly financial report, which it released on 5 November, mentioned that the company was intending to acquire more development studios and turn them into subsidiaries, in order to strengthen game development capabilities. It would seem, then, that this acquisition of BNSS is Nintendo acting on this strategy.
Aside from Splatoon, BNSS has also worked as a support studio for other big-name franchise games. This includes Tekken 7 and 8, Soul Calibur VI and Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, all of which were published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.
Outside of their parent company, BNSS also developed the 3D platformer Hirogami, published by the indie games-focused Kakehashi Games.