Aardman And Bandai Namco Partner To Develop Original Interactive IP
Aardman Animations, the U.K.’s most famous animation studio, and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, the regional branch of the Japanese video game titan, are teaming up to develop an entirely new IP.
Details of the project are scarce. It will be interactive and available across multiple media, with Aardman’s “talent in creating characters and worlds” complementing Bandai Namco’s “expertise in publishing and development, to create stories tailored for current and future platforms.” The two companies will approach production partners with development materials early next year.
“As modern storytellers, the formats we create for are fundamentally changing year on year. This creates a space bubbling with potential, the chance to weave worlds with many windows, allowing people to play, watch or even perform with the IPs we create,” said Daniel Efergan, Aardman’s executive creative director of interactive. “But no matter what the format, no matter what the platform, the need for characters to fall in love with, epic universes to explore, and ultimately great storytelling, will always be front and center.”
The Bristol-based Aardman has won widespread acclaim for its stop-motion films and series, including the Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep franchises and the 2000 feature Chicken Run. It has recently branched out into other media, including the 2018 game 11-11: Memories Retold and the augmented reality experience Wallace & Gromit: The Big Fix Up (which will launch on December 30).
Bandai Namco is one of the largest game companies in Japan, home to classic franchises like Tekken, Gundam, Pac-Man, Dark Souls, and Soulcaliber. It is also the owner of major media franchises like Dragon Ball and Naruto.
