Nintendo has been busy with its push into Southeast Asia, starting with the long-awaited launch of the eShop for the region and the establishment of a business entity in Singapore. Now, the gaming juggernaut has announced plans to acquire shares of Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, turning the company into its subsidiary under a new name: Nintendo Studios Singapore.
According to an official corporate release, the deal was struck “for the purpose of strengthening its development structure”, with Nintendo noting the studio’s “strong expertise in creating in-game art assets”. The plan is for the company to acquire 80 percent of shares on 1 April 2026, and the remaining “after a certain period”.
It’s unclear whether the acquisition extends to Bandai Namco Studios’ other offices in Malaysia and Japan, but the Singapore side will otherwise “continue its development operations”. A subsidiary of Bandai Namco Entertainment, it has previously contributed to several Nintendo titles, including Splatoon 3, Mario Sports Superstars, and New Pokémon Snap for The Pokémon Company. More notably, the company was previously tapped to work on Metroid Prime 4, before development reportedly shifted to its Japanese arm.
Nintendo anticipates that the acquisition will only have “a minor effect” on its results for this fiscal year ending in March 2026. Alongside the Singapore studio, other Nintendo-owned subsidiaries include 1-Up Studio — formerly known as Brownie Brown — which helped with design on Super Mario 3D World and Super Mario Odyssey, Next Level Games (Luigi’s Mansion 3), Nintendo Cube (Mario Party), and Retro Studios (Donkey Kong Bananza).
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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