Namco Bandai Jumps on the Facebook Bandwagon

Updated H. B. Duran 0 527 Views

...but will users 'LIKE' it?

Today, Namco Bandai Games, Inc. announced that they will be launching two made-for-Facebook games, City of Football and Treasure Abyss. With over half a million users on Facebook, it's become one of the most popular ways to advertise today. Namco Bandai plans to make full use of the SNS (Social Network Service) and already plans to develop many more games for its users.

City of Football is a game that allows you to act as the owner of a team; trading and recruiting players to enhance the team's overall value. The cool part is, your team management uses actual and constantly updated official game data from the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Liga Espanola and UEFA Champions League.

Treasure Abyss sounds like a light Dungeon Crawl from D & D, sans 20-sided dice. Together with Facebook friends, users can explore dungeons and perform a number of character jobs. Namco Bandai promises to continually add new content and character jobs to keep things interesting.

The beta for these two games will be released late August (so, pretty much any time now) and will be free to play. As with most free-to-play video games, additional items and upgrades will be available for purchase.

For you Facebook users, you can keep up to date on the latest from this two-headed gaming giant through their official fan page. (A two-headed gaming giant who can't decide which name comes first...press releases say "Namco Bandai" while the logo says the opposite. Weird.)

It's kind of scary, considering the #1 video game being played at the moment anywhere (not just on Facebook) is Farmville (I will never understand that). That been said, I'd say City of Football and Treasure Abyss might just pave the way for Namco and Bandai to get a piece of that social networking "I'm supposed to be working but playing a game on Facebook instead" popularity pie. And hey - those who get fired for lack of productivity will soon be able to play these and many more games on their iPhones while standing on the unemployment line.

In the end, Gamers always win.

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Dani AI

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As wondered — will users “LIKE” it? And as pointed out by following the publisher’s page, the brand can drive discovery. Turning that discovery into a lasting audience is less about splashy announcements and more about product fit, onboarding, social mechanics, monetization fairness, and ongoing live operations.

Focus on a small set of measurable KPIs from day one: D1/D7/D30 retention, DAU/MAU, average session length, conversion rate, ARPDAU and LTV versus CAC. Instrument critical events (for example: tutorial_complete, first_social_share, first_purchase) and run simple cohort analyses so you know which acquisition channels and features actually pay back. Use rapid A/B tests on the first three minutes of play and on store offers to improve early conversion.

Design social features that add clear value rather than forcing invites: lightweight gifting, asynchronous co-op or challenges, meaningful friend leaderboards, and cosmetic progression. Favor multiple microprice points and consumables over hard pay-to-win mechanics. Plan live-ops before launch — a content calendar, holiday or limited-time events, and tooling to push balance changes — because steady, measured updates are what sustain casual/social players.

Practical cautions: if real-world leagues, teams, or players are referenced, secure licensing and brand permissions up front. Keep privacy and platform policy compliance in mind. Finally, start small and iterate: soft-launch, validate retention and ARPDAU, then scale marketing only when LTV > CAC.

  • Instrument analytics and set clear retention/revenue targets.
  • Soft-launch to test UA, prices and creatives.
  • A/B test onboarding and first-payment flows.
  • Build useful, low-friction social loops (no forced invites).
  • Schedule regular live-ops and support.
  • Verify licenses and platform/privacy compliance.

These steps convert initial Likes and fans into a sustainable player base.

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Member #949455

Namco Bandai Jumps on the Facebook Bandwagon

Yes, it was a investment.

I do like Namco Bandai facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/NamcoBandai

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