Bandai Namco’s Gundam ‘metaverse’ dream mixes esports, Web3, and Gunpla

Image: Bandai Namco

TheGundam Metaverse Project is the first big investment in the vaguely-defined idea of the metaverse.

The summary is from a March press release. I warn you that there is a lot of jargon ahead.

The new mid-term plan will introduce a new means of connecting fans to entertainment properties by building a metaverse for each IP under Bandai Namco Group’s portfolio, which is also utilized as a key part of the company’s IP based strategies. Development will begin with the creation of the “GUNDAM Metaverse” where it will become a platform of opportunities for GUNDAM fans worldwide to come together to converse and connect in a variety of categories.

This metaverse will steadily grow to build a solid foundation as the project moves forward into the future. First step for the metaverse is to create virtual communities for each category, and to enable connections to the categories through use of the BANDAI NAMCO iD.

Virtual communities will meld with the world of GUNDAM as a result of the plans for the Gundam-specific aspects.

Image: Bandai Namco

The first of these SIDE-G colonies will be one focused around Gunpla, where various Gunpla related experiences will be made available within the virtual world. The communities will be interesting virtual spaces to nerd out about.

In the near future, Bandai Namco wants people to build businesses around making Gundam-themed content. Here is the company's description.

In the near future, Bandai Namco Group will urge companies other than the Bandai Namco Group to join the GUNDAM market and allow general users to conduct C2C businesses using the GUNDAM brand in the form of user generated content (UGC).

By building a metaverse in which character rights are preserved and implementing this initiative, it expects that new Gundam businesses will be created and that this will lead to further expansion of Gundam IP co-created with fans.

The “GUNDAM Metaverse Project” will build “SIDE-G” by launching space colonies for each available category. Bandai Namco Group will create a new economic domain to promote C2C businesses with an invitation for other companies to join a virtual space where GUNDAM fans around the world can enjoy the virtual world together as part of their daily lives.

It is not clear how the mechanics of this will work or what the user generated content will look like. I hope it isn't NFTs, but an announcement made Friday indicates that the company is interested in the technology. The company has launched a fund to invest in startup companies that provide entertainment-related products and services using technologies such as virtual reality.

It's not clear if the metaverse is more than a flash-in-the-pan tech trend, but that doesn't mean that the vision for Gundam won't stay the same for at least the next few years.

The company has a lot of other franchises that it could try to create new virtual worlds around. It also publishes Elden Ring, though I am praying that it doesn't do anything that is metaverse-y with it. Those foolish ambitions should be put to rest.

Tech and gaming companies are rushing to stake their claims to the metaverse. Core is going from PC to Apple platforms this summer and even metaverse OG Second Life is making a renewed push. They will be competing against each other for relevance in the virtual world.