UK animation studio Aardman has partnered with Japanese publisher Bandai Namco on a brand new IP. Not many details have been revealed about the property, but the agreement is expected to extend over multiple projects. The first project is said to exist across multiple media.
Work will progress in early 2021, with Aardman and Bandai Namco hoping to “create stories tailored for current and future platforms.” More details will be released at a later date.
“Interactive Entertainment is a huge growth area within the entertainment world,” said Aardman managing director Sean Clarke. “With new emerging technology blurring the lines of watching and playing, we are keen to develop strategic partnerships with partners such as Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe that share our vision of creating new IP that embraces this new world and cement our studio’s reputation as a multi-disciplinary creative hub.”
The two partners have previously worked together on 11-11: Memories Retold, a narrative-driven title set during World War I, which was Aardman’s first commercial video game. Inspired by the works of Monet, Turner, and Peterhof, art director Bram Ttwheam cemented the game as one to watch from the very beginning. For Bandai Namco, it was extremely different from the high-octane anime action games for which the publisher is known. The game features the voices of Elijah Wood and Sebastian Koch.