Namco Bandai targets Facebook

Following earlier reports of a fiscal year net loss of ¥29.08 billion ($316.14 million), Namco Bandai announced in August this year that it would be merging its two US business arms--Namco Bandai Games America and Namco Networks America--to create a greater synergy between its console, mobile, and casual products. Namco COO Kenji Hisatsune told GameSpot at the time that the merger would see greater emphasis placed on social networks and making games that appeal to a wider audience.

Namco wants social action.

This week Namco Bandai took its first step towards social gaming, announcing its plans to supply full-scale game content to the Facebook social network beginning this month. As reported by Japanese news site Andria Sang, the publisher is readying two English-only titles to debut on Facebook: City of Football and Treasure Abyss.

City of Football is a fantasy soccer game that uses official data from the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Liga Espanola, and UEFA Champions League. The game allows players to manage their own team, as well as pick and train their virtual players using a stock-market-like system.

Treasure Abyss will take the form of a social RPG where players will team up with other Facebook users to explore dungeons. The game will be continually updated with new content including weapons and quests. Both titles will be free to play via Facebook, with the publisher generating profits from in-game item sales.

According to the report, Namco Bandai confirmed that the two social titles were developed originally for Facebook, with plans to port them to the iPhone and iPod Touch in the future.