Bandai Namco Studios Singapore is now Nintendo Studios Singapore
Nintendo is expanding with a rare acquisition of an outside developer. On Thursday, Nintendo announced it was acquiring Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, the developer reportedly behind the original version of Metroid Prime 4, before Retro Studios took over.
Bandai Namco Studios Singapore will now be known as Nintendo Studios Singapore, Nintendo said in a news release. Nintendo says the Singapore-based developer, which was founded in 2013, has “strong expertise in creating in-game art assets” and has “contributed to the development of Nintendo titles, including the Splatoon series, and has an ongoing business relationship with Nintendo.”
Nintendo reportedly worked with Bandai Namco Studios Singapore on the original version of Metroid Prime 4, which was announced back in 2017. Development on that game was later reassigned to original Metroid Prime series developer Retro Studios, which will deliver Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on Dec. 4. The Singapore studio was reportedly composed of developers from LucasArts Singapore, and had previously worked on the ambitious, but canceled game Star Wars 1313.
Nintendo’s acquisition of Bandai Namco Studios Singapore will “strengthen the development structure of the Nintendo Group,” Nintendo said in a release. Nintendo recently committed to “acquiring development companies to make them subsidiaries,” according to a quarterly financial update from the company. In recent years, Nintendo has acquired Xenoblade developer Monolith Soft and Dynamo Pictures (the latter of which is now Nintendo Pictures) to bolster its in-house development. Nintendo Pictures was behind the recent “Close to You” animated short released to promote the Pikmin franchise.
It’s not clear yet what Nintendo Studios Singapore is working on, but it will almost assuredly have a hand in co-developing many of Nintendo’s first-party titles going forward.
