In a move that might seem to come out of left field, Namco Bandai Games will be dissolving and absorbing the Namco Tales Studio, assembled in 2003 to work exclusively on the Tales of franchise. This change is to be effective as of January 1st, 2012. Before any fans start freaking out over the death of the series, let me just state that I highly doubt this is going to have an effect on the steady stream of Tales games we see released every year.

The series has been extremely profitable for Namco Bandai and I would think that their recent success with Tales of Xillia would in the very least cement its future for the time being. It's also worth noting that this is in fact that final stage of a long term process that started years ago. Thus far there have been no reports of employees being laid off and the like, so I'd try not to worry so much. The Tales series, at least in Japan, isn't likely to be going anywhere anytime soon.

[via Andriasang]