Namco Bandai Games locks down Dragon Ball rights

Namco Bandai Games America has secured exclusive North American rights to publish future “official” video games for the longstanding classic anime and manga series, Dragon Ball across all major consoles and hand held platforms. The agreement will run for five years beginning in January 2010 and supersedes the existing rights granted to publish titles on the Nintendo DS, Wii, PS3, PSP, and Xbox 360.

“We are very excited to have signed this long term agreement with Toei Animation Co., Ltd and FUNimation Entertainment, which grants NAMCO BANDAI Games North American multi-platform rights to the testosterone driven action packed world of Dragon Ball, said Makoto Iwai, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Namco Bandai Games America. “This move reunites Namco Bandai Games with the Dragon Ball series in North America which will considerably increase our ability to develop titles that perfectly capture every nuance of what makes the Dragon Ball world exciting to the consumer.”

Namco Bandai Games America has secured the right to publish three titles in 2009: Dragon Ball: Raging Blast for the Xbox 360 and PS3, Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo for Wii, and Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans for Nintendo DS.