Bandai Namco Online is reportedly close to bankruptcy following a loss of ¥ 8.201 billion (around US$ 51 million) during the last fiscal year.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Games, Bandai Namco Online specialized in developing and managing online games.
The subsidiary has faced losses for the past couple of years. It had previously seen a deficit of ¥4 billion (US$24.8 million) during the previous, 2022 to 2023 fiscal year.
Industry insiders have speculated that the losses come from Bandai Namco Online inflating development costs by constantly stopping and restarting large-scale projects to try to improve them — something subsequent sales have failed to cover.
The latter is most evident by a couple of high-profile failures. Late last year, the company shut down its hero shooter Gundam Evolution after a little over a year of operation. More recently, the company admitted it was disappointed in the performance of its free-to-play online RPG Blue Protocol.
Despite Bandai Namco Online possibly facing bankruptcy, its parent company, Bandai Namco Holdings, reported its highest net sales and net profit to date. This profit, however, was mostly propped up by its Toy and Hobby business and its Amusement business.
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