Shifty Look, a Namco Bandai subsidiary, have managed to revive several classic Namco franchises, and were also behind the publisher’s dating-sim game Namco High. I didn’t even know who Bravoman was till they came around.
Unfortunately, it looks like time’s up for both the studio and its games, with several of them to be taken offline as the studio closes down. Namco High itself, free-to-play online here, will have its servers shut June 30th, 2014.
If you want to get in on dating some of the premium characters such as Taiko Drum Master’s Donko within Namco High, you can still purchase the Digital pack at Crunchyroll until March 28th. Otherwise the free characters are still around as well, untill the servers go poof.
Namco High isn’t the only one going away, though. Binja Bash!, which features Bravoman, will be available with in-app purchases on your smartphone till March 16th. After that, it goes the way of Flappy Bird, too. The site itself will shut down its forums on March 20th (So save those posts you want before it’s gone!) and the entire site itself September 30th.
Comics will end at these numbers: Bravoman at #300; Wonder Momo at #200; Katamari at #150; Galaga at #100; Valkyrie at #100; Klonoa at #65; Tower of Babel at #26; and finally Dig Dug Vol. 2 ends at #18.
It’s not the entire end of the world, though, if you’re a fan of Namco Bandai’s old characters. The upcoming Wonder Momo PC game that they’re partnering with WayForward Technologies for will still be released this spring, while the anime will remain free on YouTube and Crunchyroll. Books for Bravoman, Wonder Momo, Katamari and Galaga will continue to be released on schedule by Udon Entertainment as well.
Finally, WeLoveFine’s and Squishable.com’s various toys and apparel will also still be around.
It’s always sad when a game developer can no longer continue to do what it loves. You can read a blog post about the closure, including special credits and thanks, on Shifty Look’s website here.
