Bandai Namco Online

About Bandai Namco Online

Founded in 2009, Bandai Namco Online is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Entertainment. The company is responsible for the development and operation of online video games and other software and services. The company’s titles include Blue Protocol, Gundam Evolution, and SD Gundam Operations.

The challenge

Bandai Namco Online’s always-on service model adds a twist to the usual challenges game development studios face. The company must constantly improve its games and add new content, but testing and deploying on a live service requires precision and leaves little room for error.

The team’s challenges were compounded by its remote work structure, which meant developers needed access to compute resources while working from home. Because not every team member had access to high-speed network connections, the team lost its ability to iterate quickly and deliver updates faster. Bandai Namco opted to move its builds to AWS cloud, but did not want to compromise on build acceleration they have achieved using Incredibuild on premises.

How Incredibuild helped – accelerating Unreal Engine builds on AWS cloud

Using Incredibuild for Cloud, Bandai Namco Online was able to improve efficiency by 2x for Unreal Engine C++ codes and 4 to 5x for shaders, which made it as fast as running builds on prem. During the transition, it was critical to be able to build on a quality-stable environment like the cloud rather than in disparate environments, to develop games without harming efficiency. With Incredibuild, Bandai Namco was able to deliver the right power to teams that needed it, at the right time.

This translated into benefits in a number of areas. On one hand, developers can catch bugs and resolve them much faster, with almost immediate resolutions. Because each bug requires a full rebuild before it can be re-deployed, having to wait hours for a build to complete means downtime for players.

Additionally, Incredibuild’s shortened build times meant that developers could be more productive. Instead of constant context switching and wasted time, dev teams can remain focused on their existing projects and can move faster to complete them and release changes.

The Bottom Line

By implementing Incredibuild, Bandai Namco Online was able to cut down build times from roughly one hour to 15 minutes on average. This 4-5x improvement meant faster iterations and quicker deployments. It also means that teams have access to the compute power they need, regardless of their location.