Bandai Namco Entertainment

Credits

Descriptions by
shnick1985

Captures by
Camenati

Editions by
Henrynguye5, Doctorine Dark and TheLogoFan2004

Video captures courtesy of
Anthony Cassimiro and Gabe Nwagbala

Background

Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly known as Bandai Namco Games and Namco Bandai Games) was formed in 2006 by Namco Bandai Holdings after a merger between the game division of Bandai Co., Ltd. and Namco Ltd. In 2018, as part of a group reorganization, Bandai Namco Entertainment transferred its amusement division to the second incarnation of Namco and became Bandai Namco Amusement in the process. The original companies still do exist separately (with the latter brand being currently used by Bandai Namco Amusement for their amusement centers), while the merged brand is mainly used for video game publishing, especially for its own games.

1st Logo (April 25, 2006-)

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Visuals: On a background (usually white), there is the company name in capitalized white text on top of a yellow circle and a sideways red spaceship-like triangle. The triangle and circle overlap, creating an orange space where the text is displayed. "Games" is found underneath the logo.

Trivia: The logo utilizes the colors of their long time mascot, Pac-Man (yellow, orange and red).

Variants:

• On Tekken games starting with Tekken Tag Tournament 2, there is the logo as normal, but after a few seconds, the camera zooms in as Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama (characters from the game) step on the logo and throw punches at each other in slow motion (with the camera zoomed out again), then it glitches and cuts to black. In the Bandai Namco Entertainment variant, the Bandai Namco Entertainment logo changes to the Bandai Namco Games logo when it glitches.
• On early Bandai Namco titles from 2006-2007, the text is more spaced out and the colors are brighter.
• Starting in 2015, the word "Entertainment" replaces "Games".
• At the end of commercials, orange tape under the logo is seen with the text "more fun for everyone".

Technique: A still, digital graphic.

Audio: None.

Audio Variants:

• On Pac-Man World Rally, the music from the 7th Namco logo plays.
• At the end of commercials, a Japanese announcer says "Bandai Namco!"
• On the Tekken variant, there is a loud thud when Kazuya and Jin step on the logo, and a long whooshing sound when they are throwing the slow motion punches, then the glitch sounds and the crowd sounds after it cuts to black.

Availability: This initially preceded the Namco, Bandai and Banpresto logos on all their games released since April 2006 and 2008 respectively (as in Tekken games, both this and the Namco logos are used), before their logos were respectively phased out by 2014 as the company renamed to its Japanese name. First appeared on the U.S. release of Ace Combat Zero: The Balkan War (the Japanese and PAL versions use the regular Namco logo). Also widely used across Europe and North America. Due to the next logo being announced in October 2021 and officially being implemented starting in April 2022, this logo is being phased out in favor of the next one; though as of late 2022 it is still being used sporadically on some re-releases.

2nd Logo (April 1, 2022-)

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Visuals: On a white background, there is a red speech bubble outline with "BANDAI NAMCO" in it.

Trivia: This logo utilizes red as a primary color, which makes sense since Namco and Bandai use it in their respective corporate logos. It also resembles a speech bubble used in Japanese manga, as Bandai Namco are also known for publishing anime video games mostly those based on manga.

Variants:

• In its initial reveal, the bubble was pink. This was changed to red on February 8, 2022, prior to its official launch.
• An animated variant appears on trailers. Multiple colored bubbles come together to form the main bubble, and the text appears word-by-word afterwards. For the 10th anniversary of THE iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, the iM@SCG 10th anniversary logo is shown before the bubbles appear as the logo disappears. For the 40th anniversary of Emotion, the Emotion 40th anniversary logo is shown before the bubbles appear as the logo disappears. The Bandai Namco wording is already formed while the rest of the logo plays out.
• Tekken games use the same variant as before, though it uses this logo instead of the previous one. It was later updated in Tekken 8, with Kazuya and Jin wearing their respective outfits from that said game and their places were swapped.
• On Digimon Survive, the logo briefly glitches out.

Technique: A still, digital graphic. The variant has 2D animation.

Audio: None. The animated variant has a five-note xylophone-synth tune. The Tekken variant is the same as the previous logo's variant.

Availability:

• It first appeared on Bandai Namco's website and social media on October 1, 2021, but it didn't appear on games until Digimon Survive (albeit a variant), as the change did not take effect until Bandai Namco's 2023 financial year, beginning April 1, 2022. The normal version first appeared on My Hero Ultra Rumble.
• The animated variant appears at the end of trailers of not just video games, but also other Bandai Namco products such as products that are sold or distributed by Bandai UK, as well as the mobile title, iDOLiSH7, right before the Bandai Namco Online text, and Park Beyond. The iM@SCG 10th anniversary version is shown at the end of the iM@SCG 10th anniversary celebration anime, "ETERNITY MEMORIES".

Legacy: This logo was widely lambasted when it was first announced for its minimalistic design by the community and outsiders alike, though it slowly gained popularity over time.

◄ Bandai Games Namco

Bandai Namco Entertainment