Bandai Namco Rides Pac-Man Into Indias Emerging FEC Marketplace

MUMBAI -- Bandai Namco Entertainment, an amusement machine manufacturer and operator, is moving aggressively into India's out-of-home entertainment market. Its first arcade was expected to open in October in Mumbai's Oberoi Mall. The new FEC in India's second-largest city is the country's first to be opened by a Japanese amusement company.

Bandai Namco's Hindi business will be led by its new subsidiary formed in June, Bandai Namco India. Takeo Yagi is the director and chief operating officer of the subsidiary. The new 9,264-sq.ft. FEC in the Oberoi Mall has Pac-Man and Ghostly Adventures themes, and what BDI claims is India's "largest redemption prize lineups."

The move by Bandai Namco comes at a time when India's leisure market is expanding at a rapid rate. And with the second-highest population in the world, India could be one of gaming's most fertile countries. Its mobile game market is now estimated to be worth about $200 million, but is expected to grow to $3 billion by 2019. The entire Indian games market made $428 million in revenue in 2015, according to Newzoo.

"Expansion in the fast-growing and increasingly affluent Asian region is a key component of the group's midterm vision plan," said Masaharu Igarashi, who is president of Bandai Namco's Asian division. "With a wholly owned subsidiary, we now have a direct presence in one of the largest markets in Asia. We believe Indian audiences are ready for entertainment facilities of global standards and it will become one of the fast growing new markets for our group."

Tokyo-based Bandai Namco has not revealed plans for additional FEC openings in India.

PAC-MAN GOES TO INDIA:An artist's rendering of Bandai Namco's new FEC in the Oberoi Mall. The Pac-Man themed location is seeking to tap into India's growing leisure market in a city of more than 18 million.