The multi-faceted publishing juggernaut Bandai Namco has announced that it will reveal a new IP at this year’s Gamescom in Cologne, Germany.
Bandai Namco just confirmed in a press release what its 3-game lineup will be for the 2016 Gamescom conference, to be held August 18th-21st. The first two titles are no surprise, but also exciting for fans. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is a fighting game set in the Dragon Ball universe, and will expand on the already massively inclusive Xenoverse title preceeding it. Also coming to Gamescom is Tekken 7, the latest entry in the 20-year fighting game series, one of the most popular of all time. As a prequel to Tekken 1, it promises to reveal much about the plot, and will offer VR support– though possibly just for something akin to a character viewer.
However, Hervé Hoerdt, Vice President of IP Strategy, Marketing & PR at Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, had one last thing to say: “Lastly, we will reveal a brand new project and we are very excited!”
For such a massively diverse publisher as Bandai Namco, this is big news. The company already has games for the above IPs, as well as Naruto, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, God Eater, Warhammer, One Piece, Gundam, Sword Art Online, and Digimon. And that is not to mention games independent from other IPs, such as Dark Souls, Ace Combat, Ni No Kuni, Tales of Symphonia, and Pac Man.
Speculation on the new IP is limited, but it likely won’t be another fighting game. Tekken is their flagship series, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is a fighting game, and they recently announced another fighter, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven. It could possibly be a racing game, as they have been missing games in that genre since Ridge Racer. In any case, we will have to wait until mid-August to learn more.