Japanese platform holder Nintendo has said it plans to acquire Bandai Namco Studios Singapore.
In a release to investors, the Mario giant said that it had entered into an agreement to buy 80% of the developer’s shares on April 1st, 2026, before coming back for the remaining shares at another point in the future.
After the deal goes through, Bandai Namco Studios Singapore will become a new subsidary of Nintendo and will be rebranded Nintendo Studios Singapore.
Bandai Namco Studios Singapore was founded back in 2013 and has worked on the likes of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown and Soul Calibur 6, as well as Tekkens 7 and 8. The studio also provided development support for Splatoon 3. The studio recently shipped the original title Hirogami, which was co-developed with Bandai Namco Studios Malaysia.
“BNSS was established as one of Bandai Namco Group’s overseas bases and is a development company with strong expertise in creating in-game art assets,” the Switch firm told its shareholders.
“It has contributed to the development of Nintendo titles, including the Splatoon series, and has an ongoing business relationship with Nintendo. Considering this business record, Nintendo has made the decision to acquire shares in BNSS to strengthen the development structure of the Nintendo Group.”
This most recent deal follows Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa telling shareholders at its recent Q2 results call that the company planned to make further acquisitions to bolster its development capacity.
“We will work to strengthen the internal game development organisation within the Nintendo group,” he said. “This includes initiatives such as acquiring development companies to make them subsidiaries and augmenting our development facilities, and the construction of Corporate Headquarters Development Center, Building No. 2”
Historically, Nintendo has not been an acquisitive business, but in recent years, the house of Mario has started to buy up firms with which it has long-term business relationships. In 2021, it bought Luigi’s Mansion maker Next Level Games before acquiring developer SRD Co Ltd and CG firm Dynamo Pictures. That last company was rebranded to Nintendo Pictures and has continued to contribute to a variety of projects both inside the company and out, including motion capture work to Death Stranding 2.
Then, in 2024, Nintendo bought Switch port specialist Shiver Entertainment from Embracer Group and the remaining 20% of Monolith Soft’s stock, having previously bought 80% of the company back in 2007.
