Reflector Entertainment introduced that it is opened a brand new manufacturing line on the Montreal developer to develop a brand new mission. That mission, per the press launch, will probably be based mostly on an current franchise owned by dad or mum firm Bandai Namco Europe, and assist safe “the strategic significance of the studio for the long run.”

Said Reflector CEO Hervé Hoerdt, “This is an natural and pre-planned evolution within the growth of Reflector Entertainment, which has established itself as a serious asset throughout the group.” 

Bandai Namco Europe acquired Reflector (and its subsidiary, Reflector Interactive Productions) in 2020 in an effort to develop its Western portfolio. 

“The artistic imaginative and prescient and growth capability of Reflector Entertainment will increase BNEE’s capability to craft breathtaking experiences over time,” stated Bandai Namco Europe’s Arnaud Miller on the time. 

As Reflector was being acquired, it was making an attempt to create ‘Storyworlds,’ or cross-media franchises. Its first (and at present, solely) Storyworld is Unknown 9, a multimedia paranormal thriller sequence that consists of a trilogy of books and a podcast. 

Set in the identical universe, Reflector Interactive’s online game, Unknown 9: Awakening, will launch in 2023. 

The query is not which Bandai Namco franchise, it is how it will take form

That Reflector is being tasked with a pre-existing IP from Bandai Namco is attention-grabbing, particularly in mild of reports from earlier within the 12 months concerning the Tekken writer’s many franchises.  

This previous February, Bandai Namco introduced its plans to create an “IP metaverse,” one the place it plans to “set up communities amongst Bandai Namco and followers, in addition to amongst followers themselves,” in line with its press launch on the time. “We will work to maximise IP worth over the medium to long run.”

Being tasked with an IP particularly from its dad or mum firm does not mechanically imply that Reflector will flip that property right into a multimedia franchise, or is caught up in Bandai Namco’s metaverse plans. But the studio’s open ambitions do current some attention-grabbing prospects.