Bandai Namco subsidiary Bandai Namco Online to be dissolved and merged with parent company

Bandai Namco Online is to be dissolved and merged with its parent company.

In a brief press statement, Bandai Namco called it an "absorption-type merger" that will see subsidiary Bandai Namco Online - which was established back in 2009 to drive Bandai's online portfolio - shut down and its business transferred to Bandai Namco.

It's unclear if staff will be transferred to the parent company along with its games.

Bandai Namco said the merger comes as a result of changes across the industry but expects to continue to deliver high quality games that "exceed" the expectations of fans like Idolish7, SD Gundam Operations, and Gundam Tribe.

The merger will complete on April 1, 2025.

Earlier this year, Bandai Namco announced it will shut down the Japanese servers for Blue Protocol in January 2025, and cancel its Western release entirely.

The company also reportedly cut its workforce last month following the cancellation of "several titles due to lackluster demand." It's alleged 200 of its 1300 employees have been moved into these "expulsion rooms" – or "oidashi beya" – and almost half of these have since voluntarily resigned. The company denies the claims.