It is early in the year, but all the signs suggest that trading for FECs will be "moderate," said Bandai Namco’s commercial and sales director James Anderson on the company’s EAG booth in London last week.
“Pre-Covid we had a good 2019,” he said, “and immediately afterwards everyone had money, so it has not been really settled until now. It is going to be challenging.”
His Bandai Namco Group took the opportunity to introduce the newly-promoted Tommy Nasser, who has taken over as head of sales and had a very wide range of new games for his team to offer to visitors.
“Tommy ran the Trafford venue, the most successful in the operation," said Anderson. "I have never been an operator, so Tommy brings a new aspect to the sales force.”
This will help Anderson considerably, as he has responsibility for sales in both Europe and North America. “We have access to most of the world’s developers,” he said, “and we listen carefully to feedback, so we can monitor trends.”
He said that the merger of BNAE and Namco Europe’s operations had been a successful move. The partnership with Embed, he said, was working well and is now in its eighth year.
Stars on the extensive booth were plenty, but Anderson singled out the Looney Tunes licence as significant. “We had an Andamiro game from Korea that featured American football, paying out cards depicting players, which was obviously a hard sell.
"We put the two together and for the past nine months it has been constantly in the top three earners in FECs."
The picture shows the new head of sales at Bandai Namco Amusements Europe, Tommy Nasser (left), and a new Find a Key game on the company’s stand with newcomer to the staff Christian Temple, grandson of the well-known industry personality Jack Temple.