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Bandai Namco is building a £96m interconnected "IP metaverse"
To experience "entertainment on an IP axis"

2022 so far: if you're not being clobbered with an NFT, you're being smacked in the chops by a metaverse, and the latest company to hop aboard the latter train is Bandai Namco, which is building a £96m virtual space where customers can experience "entertainment on an IP axis".

As spotted by VGC, Bandai Namco made the announcement as part of its newly released mid-term plan spanning April 2022 to March 2025. In the document, the publisher introduces a recolour of its new speech-bubble-inspired logo (said to express "the potential of the brand to connect with people around the world through dreams, fun and inspiration") alongside an initial outline for what it's calling its new "IP axis strategy".

This, the publisher says, is all about connecting fans and increasing the value of its properties, with the company planning to develop a metaverse - the increasingly popular, if somewhat ill-defined term for a socially focused virtual space - for each of its IPs. Each IP metaverse will then form part of an interconnected universe known as the "ALL BANDAI NAMCO concept".

"We are anticipating virtual spaces that will enable customers to enjoy a wide range of entertainment on an IP axis," it explains, "as well as frameworks that leverage Bandai Namco's distinctive strengths to fuse physical products and venues with digital elements."

While the report doesn't single out any specific IP for the metaverse treatment, Bandai Namco has a wide range of potential candidates, including Dark Souls and the upcoming Elden Ring, the Dark Pictures Anthology, Soul Calibur, the Tales series, Taiko No Tatsujin, Pac-Man and other arcade classics, plus a sizeable number of licensed manga and anime games.
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"Through the IP Metaverse," the publisher continues, "we will establish communities among Bandai Namco and fans, as well as among fans themselves. Through these communities and content, we will build deep, broad, multifaceted connections that continue for long periods of time, and we will focus on the quality of those connections. In this way, we will work to maximise IP value over the medium to long term."

Bandai Namco says it will be spending 15 billion yen (around £96m/$130m USD) on the project - specifically to establish a "data foundation" and begin creating content for the metaverse - with the initiative said to be a major priority for the company over the next three years.

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:So our milk no longer has use by dates, but our games do?

It's political correctness gone mad.

Tomous wrote:

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:So our milk no longer has use by dates, but our games do?

It's political correctness gone mad.

Your milk doesn't have use by dates?

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:

Tomous wrote:

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:So our milk no longer has use by dates, but our games do?

It's political correctness gone mad.

Your milk doesn't have use by dates?

Nope. I live on a farm.

Tomous wrote:

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:

Tomous wrote:

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:So our milk no longer has use by dates, but our games do?

It's political correctness gone mad.

Your milk doesn't have use by dates?

Nope. I live on a farm.

Ah, of course. Explains the smell.

jawa_ wrote:I hadn't been aware of this but apparently Sony sets "expiry dates" for games bought from the PlayStation Store. I've no idea why this is a thing, but it seems that some folk are finding that some of their PS3 and Vita games are no longer playable as the "expiry date" has passed.

In some cases it appears that there must have been a data fault as the expiry date listed is in 1969... but, even so, it's kinda worrying that Sony has even thought to set any kind of expiry date. We don't even actually own our digital purchases and now they might have an expiry date?!? .

BID0 wrote:To be fair physical optical media expires too. Maybe they are doing it for people who want a more authentic experience.

Tomous wrote:

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:So our milk no longer has use by dates, but our games do?

It's political correctness gone mad.

Your milk doesn't have use by dates?

Eurogamer wrote:The initiative, which Sony reportedly began considering 18 months ago - and which it's looking to roll out by the end of the year - may also include options for developers to reward players for watching ads and promotions with in-game items such as avatar skins.

jawa_ wrote:Imagine going to play a game and then having that experience disrupted by watching adverts

Winckle wrote:I would simply not play those games.

Trelliz wrote:

Winckle wrote:I would simply not play those games.

Each one of these types of things that get announced makes the prospect of solely emulating stuff from the PS2/GameCube/Wii/PSP era and before an ever more appealing prospect. I don't play much anymore anyway but there is enough there to keep me going pretty much indefinitely.

Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda, in a message translated from Japanese, wrote:Rather than using the proceeds from the divestiture in new investment domains such as NFT and blockchains, we intend to use them primarily to fund our efforts to foster solid IP and to enhance our development capabilities in our core Digital Entertainment segment.