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Bandai Namco established an office in Malaysia in 2016 and has contributed to developing some of the biggest AAA games in recent years, including Armored Core VI, Tales of Arise, and the TEKKEN series.
Recently, we got a golden opportunity to speak to Yosuke Naito, the COO of Bandai Namco Studios Malaysia to learn more about the role of the Malaysia-based studio in the landscape of AAA games production.
The primary role of Bandai Namco Studios Malaysia is to provide co-development support to the company’s main studio. As Yosuke Naito-san puts it, “We handle a wide array of titles from those with a realistic style to cutesy ones. Our main work is the production of character and environment assets, as well as concept art, animation, and cutscenes.”
Armored Core VI
FromSoftware’s mecha action game Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon was released with universal praise last year and even won the Best Action Game category in The Game Awards 2023. When it was announced that Bandai Namco Studios Malaysia was behind the iconic key art of Armored Core VI, there was certainly a lot of excitement and support for the studio.
Responding to the outpouring of support, Naito said “I think the important thing is to be more vocal about being involved in the hottest titles so that our creativity is recognized. Armored Core VI is a title that has been garnering a lot of interest in Malaysia as well, so we do feel like it’s necessary for us to share about our involvement in such titles, even partially.”
TEKKEN 8
As of recently, TEKKEN 8 took the gaming world by storm. In our review, we praised the game and remarked that TEKKEN 8 is a sequel that “truly reinvigorates an already terrific fighting game series with its new emphasis on aggressiveness, done in ways that fit seamlessly into the series’ identity.”
As for the Malaysia-based studio’s involvement with the fighting game title, Naito-san had this to say.
“Here in Malaysia, we created quite a volume of costumes seen on many characters. We were also involved in the production of the concept art for them, not to mention the production of in-game character animation. We also created a few of the stages in Malaysia. In short, our Malaysia studio was able to shine in quite a few areas of the production.”
Getting into the Industry
Venturing into the games industry can be a daunting ambition, especially in Southeast Asia, where the industry is still young and growing. This may be a factor in why there is a misconception that fresh graduates who got into the industry are not allowed to participate in the development of high-profile titles.
To that, Naito-san said “That is not the case at all! It is difficult though, for a fresh graduate to join our studio and immediately start getting involved with a well-known title. We have a 3-month long training at our studio, for fresh grads as well as those new joiners who have not previously worked in the game industry.”
“They learn all about things like production methods and pipelines, slowly getting used to working up against a deadline. These new members will be placed into projects based on their abilities and interests, so those members who come in with a certain level of skills or potentials do often get assigned to more well-known projects right off the bat. Of course, luck does play a part to an extent, but we love to have our good members working on good projects.”
Naito-san also shared elements he would look for in a portfolio or demo reel of applicants interested in getting to Bandai Namco Studios Malaysia.
“While meeting a certain level of skills is a prerequisite, the most important factor is your passion for what you do. Young members usually show a lot of growth after joining us, even if they start out a bit wanting in certain skills. The presence or absence of passion always shows in your work. We’d welcome anyone with that passion with open arms, and people like that are really exciting to work with.”
We’d like to thank Bandai Namco Studios Malaysia COO Yosuke Naito for taking the time to answer our questions and provide insight about the studio and the Malaysian games industry.
