Nintendo will buy Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, the dev behind this year’s papercraft PS5 console exclusive Hirogami.
The team – which was founded 12 years ago, in 2013 – has worked as a support studio on a variety of different projects, including Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown and SoulCalibur 6.
But it also has a long-running relationship with Nintendo, having assisted on tentpole first-party titles like Splatoon 3 and New Pokémon Snap. There’s already an established relationship between the studio and the platform holder, then.
Once the acquisition closes on 1st April, 2026, the company will be rebranded Nintendo Studios Singapore. Presumably, it will continue assisting on various upcoming first-party projects.
Earlier in the year, the Mario maker hinted that it would be looking to bolster its game development operations with various targeted acquisitions.
President Shuntaro Furukawa said during an earnings call earlier this year:
“We will work to strengthen the internal game development organisation within the Nintendo group. This includes initiatives such as acquiring development companies to make them subsidiaries and augmenting our development facilities, and the construction of Corporate Headquarters Development Center, Building No. 2.”
Unlike Microsoft’s recent spate of billion dollar acquisitions, it looks like Nintendo will mostly be looking at locking up long-term partners, so the overall impact on PlayStation is likely to be a lot less.
