Bandai Namco Entertainment invests in more U.S. game startups – Canada Boosts

Bandai Namco’s 021 Fund mentioned it has invested in two extra U.S. sport startups — Flickplay and Code Charm — as a part of its strategic funding plan.

The Japanese-based firm, a division of worldwide sport big Bandai Namco Leisure, is investing in sport startups within the U.S. regardless of a current spate of gaming layoffs and a slowdown in gaming venture capital investments.

This strategic funding aligns with Bandai Namco’s overarching imaginative and prescient of fostering deep, various relationships with followers, companions, staff, and communities worldwide underneath the theme “Fun for All into the Future.”

“We continue to invest in the U.S. market and startups in America because we think the U.S. is like the center of advanced technology and also the center of entertainment,” mentioned Yoyo Yang, chief of the company planning unit at Bandai Namco Leisure, in an interview with GamesBeat. “That’s why we invest even though the environment right now for fundraising and startups is not that good. We are committed to the community, and we continue to invest in the good companies. All of these solutions in these companies are focused on the community itself.”

She famous that Code Attraction’s Magma is concentrated on supporting creators all around the world, whereas Flickplay is concentrated on communities round digital and bodily characters. Beforehand, Bandai Namco additionally mentioned it invested in GGWP, which is concentrated on lowering poisonous habits in communities.

“Bandai Namco Entertainment is all about connecting with fans,” mentioned Karim Farghaly, senior vp of company improvement at Bandai Namco Leisure America, in an interview with GamesBeat. “We connect with fans using video games. But we’re not a traditional video game publisher as we have a pretty big toy business and amusement business. So we create multiple connections with fans with different media. That is how we can extend IP value and deliver richer experiences to the fan. This is really an extension of what we’re trying to do by striking partnerships and investing in companies that will give us an opportunity to connect with fans in a different way in the future.”

Farghaly mentioned Bandai Namco has invested traditionally in third-party sport studios or video games themselves, however these new investments are a lot wider in nature by way of partnering with startups.

Flickplay provides a novel service that intertwines digital toys with real-world experiences. Their “phygital” platform permits customers to buy digital toys from designated shops or areas and interact in mini-games primarily based on these toys.

Moreover, these digital toys might be included into augmented actuality content material, encouraging social sharing and interplay amongst gamers. Flickplay is predicated in California and its CEO is Pierina Merino, who based the corporate in 2019. Bandai Namco invested within the seed spherical.

Code Attraction has a instrument for sport builders. It has created Magma, a cloud-based collaboration instrument facilitating seamless communication amongst a number of creators engaged on joint initiatives. Magma goals to not solely improve collaboration but additionally present creators with alternatives to showcase their work and discover employment inside a thriving group. Code Attraction is predicated in Texas and its CEO is Damian Kaczmarek. The main target is on artists, groups and communities.

Kazuki Ikeda, assistant supervisor of the company planning division at Bandai Namco Leisure, mentioned in an interview with GamesBeat that the Flickplay platform allows you to buy digital toys after which commerce them with different customers or use them to purchase extra objects in a retailer.

“A lot of entertainment activities have moved from the physical space to the digital space. But at the same time, we do feel that because of that the way people get value in these actual physical experiences have also increased,” mentioned Ikeda. “As a fund, we want to find ways of seamlessly connecting the digital realms with the physical realms, and that’s why we invested in this company.”

Ikeda additionally mentioned the corporate hasn’t slowed down its funding actions however is fixed revisiting its funding thesis to higher match the market scenario. The corporate continues to have a look at rising markets in addition to the immersion of bodily and digital applied sciences, he mentioned. It additionally appears for tactics it could possibly leverage its mental property and platforms.

The Bandai Namco Leisure 021 Fund’s deal with investments that improve group engagement stands according to their broader targets of evolving the leisure panorama. This funding in U.S.-based firms follows previous investments, demonstrating the corporate’s proactive stance in pursuing revolutionary companies and applied sciences each domestically and internationally, the corporate mentioned.

Bandai Namco Leisure CEO Nao Udagawa emphasised the fund’s dedication to cultivating a future the place leisure seamlessly integrates into individuals’s every day lives, bridging the divide between bodily and digital realms.

The fund’s strategic strikes embrace a earlier funding in GGWP, a San Francisco firm leveraging AI-based moderation know-how to foster a safe and constructive gaming atmosphere. Dennis “Thresh” Fong, a former esports celebrity, is CEO of GGWP. Again in March, Bandai Namco’s fund additionally invested in invested in DeepMotion primarily based in america and SuperGaming primarily based in India.