Action epic Enslaved is crucial to the realisation of Namco Bandai’s Western dream, the firm has told MCV.

The company announced last year that it wants to become one of the top five games publisher worldwide.
But its Japanese-heavy line-up has become a barrier in trying to reach US and European audiences.

So following the firm’s acquisition of Atari’s European distribution business last year, Namco Bandai has set about aggressively expanding its portfolio to feature more Western-specific titles.

Namco Bandai Partners’ VP of sales, marketing and publishing Olivier Comte said: “We have set ourselves a challenge in widening the Namco Bandai portfolio.

“We want to be a Top Five publisher in the games industry worldwide.

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“To be one of the key publishers in the future, we need to develop Western, non-Japanese games.”

One of the titles Namco Bandai has snapped up is Enslaved, an action adventure game developed by talented Cambridge studio, Ninja Theory.

“Enslaved is much more than a product, it is the symbol of the future of this company. The game looks incredible, the studio is well-known and everything is on track.

“It’s important for consumers to play Enslaved because it could be the benchmark of what we have to make as a company.

“In five years Enslaved should be the most important franchise for Namco Bandai. Enslaved 2 and 3 should be our equivalent of Gran Turismo 5 or Uncharted.

“We need to this type of game in each genre and a consistent profile.

“Our industry is built on sequels and Enslaved is a triple-A property.”