Bandai Namco Announces Gundam-Themed Metaverse

Toy and video game company Bandai Namco Holdings has revealed its plans to build the Gundam Metaverse world worth more than $130 million. Metaverse will have the appearance of a series of fighting robots and many featured characters from the cult Gundam franchise.

Japanese game developer and publisher Bandai Namco shared more about its 15 billion yen ($130 million) investment in the metaverse. The first universe to debut in Bandai’s metaverse will be Gundam – the company’s trademark image. Previously, this brand appeared in countless games, manga, and anime of the country of the rising sun.

After this debut was hinted at in Bandai’s statement last month, the company officially announced during the Gundam conference:

“This metaverse will be a platform for Gundam fans from around the world to come together to chat and connect.”

Fans of the franchise will be able to join various communities including music, video games, cartoons. The company’s best-selling product – Gunpla, mock-ups of the robots – will also be available. Bandai’s metaverse will be linked to the company’s real-life “physical stations” such as arcade machines, model stores, and more. Players will be able to order Gunpla and products from within the metaverse, then Bandai staff will deliver the goods from the stations to the door.

Bandai Namco intends to use the metaverse as a tool to promote other companies’ entry into the Gundam market. This way, other companies will have the opportunity to offer Gundam-themed products with Bandai Namco’s approval.

In addition, Bandai Namco is also focusing on users in this upcoming system. According to the announcement, users will be able to produce their own Gundam content, in the form of a customer-to-customer (C2C) business. This feature allows users to derive revenue from their own creations, allowing to establish a sustainable economy between content creators and consumers. Bandai Namco said it “hopes that new Gundam businesses will be established and this will lead to a further expansion of Gundam fandom.”

At this time, the company does not have a detailed forecast of the effectiveness of the Metaverse project in increasing customer numbers or increasing revenue per customer in the industry. The medium-term plan expects the company to post a profit of 125 billion yen on total revenue of 1.1 trillion yen in fiscal 2024. Both segments will grow by more than 30% compared to 2021. Gundam Metaverse will then begin contributing to Bandai Namco’s 2025 profits.