Studio Eight (8bit) will become a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Filmworks on April 1, 2024. The studio and Bandai Namco Arts entered a partnership in 2020 aimed at creating and producing content for franchises such as That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. In 2022, Bandai Namco Arts, studio Sunrise, and Bandai Namco Rights Marketing merged to create the Bandai Namco Filmworks.
The management structure at Eight Bit will remain unchanged, but the studio will become a wholly owned subsidiary. The studio was founded in 2008 by former Satelight members. Over the years it worked on a number of successful anime series such as the abovementioned Tensura, Blue Lock, certain installments of Laid-Back Camp and The Irregular at Magic High School, and more. The official press release further expands on the studio’s point of view:
By accepting this capital participation, we will be able to increase the speed of decision-making in animation production, and by combining the stable quality of video production that Eight Bit is good at with the sales strategy that Bandai Namco Filmworks is good at, we will be able to increase the appeal of animation production. We will provide you with works of art.
Bandai Namco’s press release states that 8bit has been involved in projects such as Blue Lock and Tensura since its inception in 2008 and that this move is the next step toward expansion:
After the visual department division of Bandai Namco Arts merged with SUNRISE Corporation (currently NAMCO BANDAI Filmworks Inc.) in April 2022, the two companies have further deepened their cooperative relationship in animation production, and have now agreed to further expand their mainstay IPs and continue their collaboration by expanding their production lineup.
The decision to make Eight Bit a wholly-owned subsidiary was made with the aim of promoting the continuous creation of IP through the further expansion of mainstay IP and the expansion of production lines.
8bit and Sunrise (through Bandai Namco Filmworks) were behind last year’s Love Love! and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime collaboration. Studio Sunrise kept its name for the anime production business.
Source: 8bit, Bandai Namco (PDF), Comic Natalie