Bandai Namco Announces New IP Focus Following Decreasing Profits News

Bandai Namco Entertainment has just disclosed their financial report for the past nine months and the company notated a significant dip in profits. This dip notable despite their increase in sales, but Bandai has a plan - and that plan involves new IPs.

Following their disclosure, a 12.1 percent dip was noted bringing it to 40.9 billion yen. Their year-to-year sales saw a rise by 5.2 percent (483.2 billion yen), but it's not enough. In order to turn this financial "dip" around, the company has released a statement showing a renewed commitment to new IPs and a three year plan called CHANGE for the NEXT: Empower, Gain Momentum, and Accelerate Evolution. This will allow the company to give rise to more new IPs while providing a means at a "full-blown entry" into the Chinese market.

This is what they had to say regarding their new plan:

"Under the current Mid-term Plan from April 2015 to March 2018, we have focused on driving global development by further solidifying our "IP Axis Strategy" as the Group's greatest strength. Under this strategy, we are working to maximize IP value by taking advantage of the worldview and unique characteristics of IP (Intellectual Property: meaning characters and other intellectual property) to provide the best products and services at the best possible times.

Based on the results and challenges of the current Mid-term Plan, the new Mid-term Plan will aim to evolve the IP axis strategy further and achieve penetration and expansion in global markets. At the same time, we will also strengthen development in regions and businesses with high growth potential. Under the IP axis strategy, we will drive creation of new IP and regionally oriented strategies by unifying the efforts in each region under the ALL BANDAI NAMCO concept.

Moreover, in promoting specific strategies, we aim to be a Group that is changing in all aspects to progress to a next stage rather than being bound by previous business models and established ideas while considering the changes in the global entertainment market environment and customer orientation, the appearance of new competitors, and other factors."

You can see their entire plan of action here directly from Bandai Namco, but it will be interesting to see where they go from here - especially considering the amazing success their latest title with Arc System Works has seen in Dragon Ball FighterZ.