Bandai Namco Entertainment filed trademarks for “Once Upon a KATAMARI” on February 27 in Europe, and “Gekishin Squadra” on February 14 in the United States and Europe.
The Japanese publisher is notorious for trademarking game titles ahead of official announcements. Recent trademarks discovered by GPlayr before their official announcements include “Time Stranger” (Digimon Story: Time Stranger), “Nightreign” (Elden Ring Nightreign), and “Battle Destiny” (Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Battle Destiny Remastered), “Operation Memories” (SPYxANYA: Operation Memories), “Fractured Daydream” (Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream), and “Shadow Labyrinth.” Bandai Namco also trademarked “Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn” and “We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie” before their announcements.
While recent Katamari series releases have been REROLL—or remastered—versions of previous games, “Once Upon a KATAMARI” could be the first new entry since Touch My Katamari for PS Vita in 2011.
As for “Gekishin Squadra,” while the title may sound similar to Dragon Ball Z II: Gekishin Freeza, which launched for Famicom in 1991, “Gekishin” is not a Dragon Ball-specific term, so what it could be for remains to be seen.
Speaking of Bandai Namco, at least two somewhat recent trademarks have yet to be revealed as games—“Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree” and “case. mirage.”