Namco Bandai Partners

Namco Bandai Partners S.A.S. (formerly Distribution Partners SAS) was a video game distribution company that was an amalgamation of several former Atari SA (formerly known as Infogrames Entertainment SA) offices located in PAL territories, which were acquired beginning in 2009 by Bandai Namco Holdings.

Namco Bandai Partners S.A.S.
Formerly
  • Distribution Partners S.A.S. (2008–2009)
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Publishing
FoundedSeptember 2008
Defunct1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)
FateMerged with Namco Bandai Games Europe
Headquarters
Lyon
,
France[1]
OwnerBandai Namco Holdings
ParentAtari Europe (2008-2009)[2]
Namco Bandai Games Europe S.A.S. (2009-2013)
SubsidiariesNamco Bandai Partners Australia
Namco Bandai Partners UK

History

Atari and Namco had long maintained a cross-publishing relationship that can be traced back to the very origins of Namco, and Atari's liquidation of regional assets was a natural opportunity for Namco Bandai to gain a PAL distribution network.

On September 9, 2008, Infogrames and Namco Bandai Games Europe announced a new joint-venture known as Distribution Partners. The distribution arms of both businesses were regrouped into a standalone entity with exclusive physical packaged-goods distribution rights for video games produced by Namco Bandai and Infogrames within Infogrames European and Asian territories. Along the way, Namco Bandai's parent company acquired a 34% stake in Atari's European and Asian businesses.[3] The acquisitions came on the heels of Infogrames and Atari's financial difficulties, which had begun to snowball in 2006. The venture would trade worldwide, excluding North America and Japan.[4]

On March 25, 2009, Atari announced they would leave the European and Asian markets[5] and sell off their 66% stake in Distribution Partners within the next four months to Namco Bandai Games, although they would still retain a five-year distribution deal in the venture. This move was done so Atari could focus on the MMO market.[6] The purchase was completed on July 7, and Distribution Partners was renamed Namco Bandai Partners in immediate effect, alongside all of Atari's European and Australian distribution subsidiaries being renamed under the Namco Bandai Partners umbrella as well.[7][8] Because of the existing distribute deal planned beforehand, Namco Bandai Partners would continue to distribute Atari's games, which included titles such as Champions Online.[9] and also distribute titles from other publishers, such as Cities XL from Monte Cristo.[10]

On April 16, 2010, it was announced that the company had signed an agreement deal with Sony Computer Entertainment to allow them to distribute and publish the game Demon's Souls for PAL-region territories. This followed news after Sony's European publishing division and Atlus, who published the game in North America, made announcements that they had no plans to bring the title over to PAL-regions.[11]

On 1 July 2013, Namco Bandai Partners merged its operations with Namco Bandai Games Europe, with the latter now handling distribution of games through both Europe and Australia. This was done out of the parent company's desire in merging its publishing and distribution divisions together to help unify the Namco Bandai brand.[12]

Titles
GameReleasePublisherPlatform(s)Source
Champions Online4 September 2009AtariMicrosoft Windows[13]
Katamari Forever18 September 2009Namco Bandai GamesPlayStation 3[14]
Family Trainer: Extreme Challenge25 September 2009Namco Bandai GamesWii[15]
One Piece: Unlimited Cruise Episode 2: Awakening of a Hero25 September 2009Namco Bandai GamesWii[16]
Cities XL8 October 2009Monte Cristo[lower-alpha 1]Microsoft Windows[17]
Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo30 October 2009Namco Bandai GamesWii[18]
Tekken 630 October 2009Namco Bandai GamesPlayStation 3, Xbox 360[19]
Ghostbusters: The Video Game6 November 2009AtariXbox 360, Wii, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS[20]
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World13 November 2009Namco Bandai GamesWii[21]
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast13 November 2009Namco Bandai GamesPlayStation 3, Xbox 360[22]
Star Trek Online5 February 2010AtariMicrosoft Windows[23]
Project Runway18 June 2010AtariWii[24]
Demon's Souls25 June 2010Sony Computer EntertainmentPlayStation 3[25]
Test Drive Unlimited 211 February 2011AtariMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360[26]
Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 125 February 2011AtariNintendo DS[27]
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings17 May 2011CD ProjektMicrosoft Windows[28]
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings17 April 2012CD ProjektXbox 360[29]
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3D26 October 2012AtariNintendo 3DS[30]

References
  1. "Namco Bandai Partners - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg News.
  2. http://files.atari.com/corporate/0908-GB_annual%20report.pdf
  3. "Infogrames/Namco Bandai Europe deal". 9 September 2008.
  4. "Namco Bandai completes purchase of Atari's PAL distribution".
  5. "Atari to Leave Europe?". 14 May 2009.
  6. "Atari speeds up distribution sale to Namco Bandai". 25 March 2009.
  7. "Namco Bandai/Atari deal". 7 July 2009.
  8. "Namco Bandai Europe purchases PAL distribution from Atari". 7 July 2009.
  9. "Namco Bandai Partners reveals blistereing GamesCom 2009 line up". 10 August 2009.
  10. "Namco Bandai completes purchase of Atari's PAL distribution".
  11. "Demon's Souls formally dated in Europe for June 25 by Namco Bandai". 16 April 2010.
  12. Long, Neil (1 July 2013). "Namco Bandai completes merger of publishing and distribution businesses". Edge. Future plc. Archived from the original on 4 February 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  13. "Namco Bandai Partners reveals blistereing GamesCom 2009 line up". 10 August 2009.
  14. "Namco Bandai Partners reveals blistereing GamesCom 2009 line up". 10 August 2009.
  15. "Namco Bandai Partners reveals blistereing GamesCom 2009 line up". 10 August 2009.
  16. "Namco Bandai Partners reveals blistereing GamesCom 2009 line up". 10 August 2009.
  17. "Namco Bandai Partners to distribute Cities XL in UK". 8 July 2009.
  18. "Namco Bandai Partners reveals blistereing GamesCom 2009 line up". 10 August 2009.
  19. "Namco Bandai Partners reveals blistereing GamesCom 2009 line up". 10 August 2009.
  20. "Non-Sony Ghostbusters dated". 27 July 2009.
  21. "Namco Bandai Partners reveals blistereing GamesCom 2009 line up". 10 August 2009.
  22. "Namco Bandai Partners reveals blistereing GamesCom 2009 line up". 10 August 2009.
  23. "Learn About One of Star Trek Online's Primary Characters".
  24. "Project Runway : Premières images".
  25. "Demon's Souls formally dated in Europe for June 25 by Namco Bandai". 16 April 2010.
  26. https://qj.net/test-drive-unlimited-2-other-namco-bandai-games-dated/
  27. "Namco dates Knight's Contract, God Eater". Eurogamer.net. 8 December 2010.
  28. "Namco Bandai - the Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings". 5 November 2010.
  29. "Namco Bandai wins Witcher 2 suit against CD Projekt".
  30. "Namco and Atari bringing Rollercoaster Tycoon 3D to EU".
  1. Distributed in the UK, Nordic regions, Iberica, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. Monte Cristo handled distribution themselves in other European territories
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