Bandai Namco Experience

Bandai Namco Experience Inc. is a Japanese company within Bandai Namco Group that serves as the management and planning hub for the group’s Amusement Unit. Established in February 2025 and operationally launched on April 1, 2025, it was created through a restructuring designed to separate business management and product development from the day-to-day operation of entertainment facilities. The company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings and assumed management functions, as well as the planning and sales of amusement equipment, from Bandai Namco Amusement Inc. Bandai Namco Amusement subsequently concentrated more narrowly on operating venues and facilities. The company’s remit covers what Bandai Namco describes as “Real Entertainment”: physical locations, amusement machines, experiential retail, and other offline entertainment formats that connect audiences with the group’s intellectual properties. Its responsibilities include setting the amusement unit’s overall direction, developing medium- and long-term growth plans, planning and commercializing arcade machines, and coordinating experiences that combine entertainment, retail, technology, and Bandai Namco character and franchise content. Examples of the arcade-development area include projects associated with The Idolmaster and Mobile Suit Gundam. Bandai Namco Experience operates within the group’s broader “Connect with Fans” vision. Its stated CW360, or “Connect with 360,” approach seeks to build multiple forms of connection between fans and Bandai Namco IP through physical venues and services rather than relying only on conventional game or merchandise sales. This includes the expansion of integrated facilities such as Bandai Namco Cross Store, where official shops, capsule-toy retail, merchandise, and amusement activities are combined in a single destination. Other formats associated with the amusement portfolio include Gashapon Bandai Official Shop locations and VS PARK interactive sports-entertainment centers. The business also emphasizes the use of technology to deepen venue experiences. The reference material identifies artificial intelligence and extended-reality technologies as areas being used or explored for physical entertainment, including character-oriented interactions. In this structure, Bandai Namco Experience is principally a business-management, planning, and development company rather than a simple chain of amusement centers. Its role is to coordinate the portfolio, create new products and formats, and support the long-term expansion of Bandai Namco’s real-world entertainment ecosystem, while affiliated operating companies manage the customer-facing facilities.

Bandai Namco Experience was created during a major reorganization of Bandai Namco Group’s amusement activities. Before the reorganization, Bandai Namco Amusement combined management responsibilities with the operation of customer-facing entertainment facilities and related amusement-equipment activities. The new structure was intended to distinguish the functions needed to plan and grow the business from the operational work of running venues. Bandai Namco Holdings established Bandai Namco Experience as a wholly owned subsidiary on February 14, 2025. The new company was designed to act as the management center for the Amusement Unit, with responsibility for overall strategy, business planning, product development, and the creation of new forms of real-world entertainment. The transfer was completed on April 1, 2025, when Bandai Namco Experience inherited business-management activities and the planning and sales of amusement equipment from Bandai Namco Amusement through a company split. Bandai Namco Amusement consequently focused on the front-end operation of entertainment facilities. The company’s formation reflects Bandai Namco Group’s effort to organize its businesses around connections with fans and its portfolio of intellectual property. Bandai Namco Experience’s remit extends beyond traditional arcades. It includes amusement machines, entertainment centers, themed and integrated retail locations, capsule-toy shops, and other venues where customers encounter the group’s franchises in physical form. The company’s stated “Real Entertainment” concept treats locations and devices as platforms for direct, participatory experiences. Its strategy is associated with the CW360, or “Connect with 360,” initiative. The approach aims to create several complementary points of contact between fans and Bandai Namco IP. In practice, this can involve combining amusement activities with official merchandise, toys, trading cards, capsule products, events, and character-based interactions. The Bandai Namco Cross Store format illustrates this model by bringing group-related retail and amusement functions together. Gashapon Bandai Official Shop and VS PARK are other formats linked to the amusement portfolio, serving different interests through capsule-toy retail and interactive sports-themed entertainment respectively. Product planning is another central responsibility. The company is associated with the development and commercialization of next-generation arcade hardware and software, including projects connected with The Idolmaster and Mobile Suit Gundam. It also identifies artificial intelligence and extended reality as technologies that can enhance physical entertainment, including interactions involving digital or fictional characters. Because the company was established in 2025, its publicly documented history remains short. Its significance lies primarily in its organizational role: it provides strategic and development coordination for Bandai Namco’s amusement ecosystem, while affiliated operating businesses manage venues and facilities. The model allows the group to pursue longer-term product and experience planning while maintaining dedicated operational expertise at the facility level.

• 2025

  Bandai Namco Experience is established

  [1]Bandai Namco Experienceen.wikipedia.org

  Bandai Namco Holdings establishes Bandai Namco Experience as a wholly owned subsidiary on February 14 as part of an amusement-business restructuring.

• 2025

  Amusement management and product functions are transferred

  [1]Bandai Namco Experienceen.wikipedia.org

  On April 1, Bandai Namco Experience assumes business-management responsibilities and the planning and sales of amusement equipment from Bandai Namco Amusement through a company split.

• 2025

  CW360 strategy guides the real-entertainment portfolio

  [1]Bandai Namco Experienceen.wikipedia.org

  The company operates under Bandai Namco Group’s Connect with Fans vision and uses the CW360 framework to develop broader fan connections through physical entertainment.

A physical-entertainment strategy and development company connecting Bandai Namco intellectual properties with amusement venues, arcade products, experiential retail, and technology-enabled experiences.

• Amusement equipment

  Arcade amusement machines

  Bandai Namco Experience is responsible for planning and commercializing amusement equipment for the group’s arcade business. The portfolio includes projects tied to major Bandai Namco properties, including The Idolmaster and Mobile Suit Gundam. Its role is focused on product strategy, development, and sales rather than solely on operating the facilities where the machines are installed.

• Experiential retail and amusement facility

  Bandai Namco Cross Store

  Bandai Namco Cross Store is an integrated physical-entertainment format that brings together official group shops, merchandise, toys, trading cards, capsule products, and amusement activities. It functions as a physical hub for Bandai Namco’s IP-centered strategy by combining shopping and participatory entertainment in one destination.

• Capsule-toy retail

  Gashapon Bandai Official Shop

  Gashapon Bandai Official Shop is a specialized capsule-toy retail format associated with Bandai Namco’s amusement and experiential-retail activities. The stores provide a dedicated environment for Bandai’s capsule products and help extend the group’s IP and character portfolio into branded physical locations.

• Interactive entertainment venue

  VS PARK

  VS PARK is an interactive, sports-themed entertainment-center format within the wider amusement portfolio. It is designed around participatory activities and physical challenges, offering an alternative to conventional arcade play while fitting the group’s broader emphasis on experience-based value.

• 2025

  Separate amusement management from facility operationStrategy

  Background

  Bandai Namco Group reorganized its amusement business to clarify the distinction between strategic management and product development on one side and the operation of entertainment facilities on the other.

  Action taken

  Bandai Namco Holdings created Bandai Namco Experience as a wholly owned subsidiary and transferred management, amusement-equipment planning, and sales functions from Bandai Namco Amusement to it on April 1, 2025.

  Aftermath

  Bandai Namco Experience became the management and development hub for the Amusement Unit, while Bandai Namco Amusement focused on operating entertainment facilities.

  Source

• 2025

  Pursue experience-based value through the CW360 frameworkStrategy

  Background

  The company’s business model is aligned with Bandai Namco Group’s Connect with Fans vision and the objective of creating richer, recurring connections between fans and group intellectual properties.

  Action taken

  Bandai Namco Experience prioritizes physical venues, amusement machines, integrated retail formats, and technology such as AI and extended reality as components of a connected real-entertainment ecosystem.

  Aftermath

  The strategy positions facilities such as Bandai Namco Cross Store, Gashapon Bandai Official Shop, and VS PARK as complementary channels for IP engagement.

  Source

1. 1Bandai Namco Experienceen.wikipedia.org