Bandai Namco with another flopper from a guaranteed IP

Back in February, I wrote a piece diagnosing the structural rot at Bandai Namco. I laid out exactly how the publisher was suffocating under an out-of-touch, plastic-manufacturing corporate mindset. Well, grab a front-row seat. They have just proven me right in the most embarrassing way possible.

Following the absolute cratering of Code Vein 2 earlier this year, Bandai has managed to fumble yet another guaranteed slam dunk. Well done, Bandai, you got a massive flop with a 50% rating on Steam! Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad launched last week and it sits lower than their previous disaster, currently ranking as the worst-rated game in a franchise already known for producing incredibly mediocre titles. Fans have been begging for a high-budget, custom-character survival RPG set in Aincrad for over a decade. They gave us the exact plot and setting everyone wanted, and yes, they managed to completely bomb it.

The corporate mandate to chase trends:

You can practically smell the boardroom desperation on this release. Much like Code Vein 2, it is entirely obvious that executives greenlit Echoes of Aincrad with a simple, uninspired mandate. They just pointed at the whiteboard and said, "Make the game, but Elden Ring with mass appeal."

They completely ignored what makes the source material function and delivered an incredibly low-effort product. Just look at the structural flaws actively driving players away:

Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle: The game parades itself as a massive, immersive open world, but the overworld fields are totally empty. There is absolutely no reason to explore because there is nothing to find. You are just running around in barren, low-effort environments.

Zero MMO atmosphere: The entire premise relies on the feeling of being trapped in a server with 10,000 other players. Instead, you step outside a hub town and the world is entirely dead. It completely shatters any sense of immersion and feels nothing like an actual MMO.

A soulless Soulslike: The combat is a desperate attempt to ape the FromSoftware formula, but they completely misunderstood what makes it work. What we got instead is a clumsy, rigid mimicry where you are just forced through linear corridors mashing against the exact same repetitive enemies over and over again.

Aggressive railroading: Instead of giving players the freedom to carve out their own survival story, the game is exhaustingly rigid. Step two feet off the designated path and the game barks at you to get back to the objective. Your custom protagonist has zero impact or agency.

It is a completely trend-chasing product shoved out the door just to keep the IP contract active.

A completely barren release schedule:

So what is actually left to save Bandai this year? The outlook is exceptionally grim. We have Ace Combat 8 coming later this year. It looks solid, but aerial combat simulators are an inherently niche franchise. A brilliant flight sim is not going to plug the massive financial hole left by their recent failures.

Then you have Dawnwalker. Funnily enough, this will almost certainly be their biggest commercial hit of the year. Yet Bandai does not own the developer, Rebel Wolves, and they do not own the IP. They are acting as a glorified distribution channel, entirely reliant on external talent to keep their books balanced.