is a Japanese

video game development Video game development (or gamedev) is the process of developing a video game. The effort is undertaken by a developer, ranging from a single person to an international team dispersed across the globe. Development of traditional commercial PC a ...

company. The company is a result of a merger between BEC and Banpresoft by their parent company,

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in ...

History

, short for Bandai Entertainment Company, was a joint venture by

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

and

Human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

for video game development. They were best known for developing licensed video games for Bandai including ''

Digimon , short for "Digital Monsters" ( ''Dejitaru Monsutā''), is a Japanese media franchise encompassing virtual pet toys, anime, manga, video games, films and a trading card game. The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures, who inhabit a "Di ...

'', ''

Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...

'' and ''

Mobile Suit Gundam , also known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is an anime television series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting ...

''. Bandai eventually took full control of BEC, after Human went bankrupt in 2000, and once Bandai and

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

merged to create

Bandai Namco Holdings also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco on S ...

, BEC became a video game development subsidiary for the merged company. was a subsidiary of

Banpresto (formerly Coreland Technology Inc.) was a Japanese video game developer and publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in the New Territories. Banpresto was a partly-own ...

that developed video games. Its name was changed to in March 1997. On April 1, 2011, Bandai Namco merged BEC with Banpresoft in order to streamline and unify the Bandai gaming subsidiaries under one division, whilst the Banpresto brand was re-established as a toy company as part of Bandai Namco's toys and hobby business. B.B. Studio continued to use the Banpresto name on its products until February 2014, when it was decided that all Bandai Namco video games going forward would only carry the Bandai Namco name.

List of games

Notes

References

External links

*
Former Banpresoft website

Former BEC website
Software companies based in Tokyo Bandai Namco Holdings subsidiaries Video game companies established in 1994 Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies Japanese companies established in 1994 {{japan-videogame-company-stub