During an investors meeting, Bandai Namco announced the sales figures of some of its best-selling games, as well as talked a bit more about the Gundam metaverse. It also discussed some of its plans to develop games similar to Elden Ring in 2023. However, there are no details as to what this could entail.
In the first half of 2022, Bandai Namco sold 5.4 million copies of new games (games released in 2022) and 19.21 million copies of past games. Among its new games, Digimon Survive and Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master were the most popular. As for its past games, Elden Ring remains a bestseller. During Q4, Bandai Namco made 52.5 billion yen ($373 million) in online sales through “network content,” which is DLC or online games. For reference, it made 43.5 billion yen in the same quarter last year.
In 2023, Bandai Namco plans on releasing several games that will be like Elden Ring. In this sense, it means games that a player can enjoy for a long time. Bandai Namco specifically used Tekken 8 as an example of a 2023 game that will remain playable for a while.
The company also gave an update on the Gundam metaverse. It is working on content that will be in the metaverse space. It first plans on conducting a closed test using a “gunpla colony” before moving onto games or videos. Bandai Namco has no details on how it plans on monetizing the Gundam metaverse, but it will continue to be a major project in the future. It is considering using NFTs or blockchain technology if it feels like they’re necessary to connect with the fans.
Games coming out in the near future from Bandai Namco include One Piece Odyssey, Tekken 8, and Blue Protocol.
