Over the years, Bandai Namco has stepped in to publish other publishers’ games in different regions outside Japan. They’ve published most of From Software’s recent games worldwide, published Guilty Gear Strive in Europe, and has even expanded its distribution of Square Enix titles in Europe. More recently, they’ve even licensed old and niche Sony IPs like Freedom Wars and Patapon to bring them to a new audience. Their next move, however, looks to be groundbreaking.

AniPlug Media has received visual confirmation (that I obviously cannot share) that Bandai Namco has licensed “Gekitou Ninja Taisen!” from Takara Tomy, and is producing a new game in the series. For those who are unaware, “Gekitou Ninja Taisen!” is the Japanese name of Naruto: Clash of Ninja.

The original Clash of Ninja series was a 3D fighter series developed by Eighting, and spanned 11 games on Nintendo GameCube and Wii:

• Naruto: Clash of Ninja (GC)
• Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2 (GC)
• Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3 (GC)
• Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 4 (GC)
• Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! EX (Wii)
• Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! EX2 (Wii)
• Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! EX3 (Wii)
• Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution (Wii)
• Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 (Wii)
• Naruto Shippūden: Clash of Ninja Revolution III (Wii)
• Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! Special (Wii)

What makes this especially shocking, compared to Bandai’s previous expansion endeavors, is that Bandai and Takara had such a fierce rivalry in the past that, when Keiji Inafune transferred the merchandising rights of Mega Man from Bandai to Takara, the ensuing fallout led to the cancellation of a Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon PSP port.

The new Naruto Shippūden: Clash of Ninja looks to be covering the Fourth Great Ninja War in its entirety. Eight characters have been confirmed:

• Naruto
• Sasuke
• Sakura
• Kakashi
• Itachi (Reanimation)
• Obito (Masked)
• Madara
• Kabuto (Sage Mode)

At first glance, the new Clash of Ninja looks like it’s in development for Switch and Switch 2, alongside PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series. AniPlug Media estimates that a full announcement will be made as part of either Summer Game Fest or Bandai’s Anime Expo panel.