Bandai Namco Entertainment has announced that it has created a brand-new studio by partnering with the development team at ILCA. ILCA is most recently known for creating last year’s remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl on the Nintendo Switch. The studio is also working on the upcoming JRPG, One Piece Odyssey.
The publisher revealed that the newly formed studio is titled Bandai Namco Aces. The Tokyo-based studio will “continue to deliver deep and lasting, high-quality content to fans around the world.” This team will be helmed by president and CEO, Takuya Iwasaki. Iwasaki held the same positions while working at ILCA.
You may be wondering what this new studio will be working on, and the answer appears to be a new entry in the Ace Combat franchise. During a 25th anniversary broadcast for Ace Combat that happened last year, it was revealed that a new Ace Combat game was in development as a joint effort between ILCA and Bandai Namco. ILCA had previously worked on environments and cutscenes for Ace Combat 7, so the studio already has the relevant experience that Bandai Namco needs.
ILCA was created in 2010 to be a video production company, but it has since shifted to working on games more frequently. From the official news release, the companies state, “Embracing the name “Aces” as representing those who are best or leading in any field, the newly created studio will leverage the know-how of both companies and continue to deliver deep and lasting, high-quality content to fans around the world, including for the Ace Combat series.”
ILCA states that it has the “technical capabilities to produce high-quality content using state-of-the-art technology,” so we hope that the next entry in the Ace Combat series can be something special.
In the meantime, ILCA is working to release One Piece Odyssey later this year.
