I would like to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to health professionals working tirelessly to save as many lives as possible and others fighting to bring the world back to normalcy at the earliest while dealing with a variety of challenges amid a rise in COVID-19 infections.

Last year, we saw the novel coronavirus bring rapid and unprecedented changes to our everyday lives, which we had always taken for granted.

The pandemic has deprived us of the excitement of meeting those we care about, going to places we enjoy, and of opportunities to share excitement with family and friends in person. Strongly affected by this loss, we at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment have spent the year thinking of entertainment ideas suited to the times and reconsidering how we can contribute.

In 2020, the company, which was previously divided along business lines into categories such as mobile games or apps, home video games and events, reorganized itself around intellectual property (IP) based groupings. This enables us, as a comprehensive entertainment company, to provide our customers with opportunities to become familiar with and enjoy IPs they would otherwise not encounter simply through games.

Additionally, we are now offering our own platform for digitized versions of e-sports and other live events, thereby allowing our customers to overcome locational constraints and participate as avatars, view similar content, and share in the excitement. We trust that by creating new content that goes beyond the framework of games, we are able to bring our customers some comfort in the midst of the anxiety and loneliness wrought by the pandemic, thereby enabling them to lead fuller lives.

Going forward, we will take pride in being entertainment professionals and strive to think outside the box to deliver multifaceted entertainment exceeding the expectations of our fans around the world through quality content that can be enjoyed over a long period.

Further, to fulfill our responsibilities as an entertainment industry company, we will strive to help resolve some of the more serious social problems of our times by sharing the power of our various IPs and contents with those who are struggling to overcome various social challenges.

We hope to receive your continued support and encouragement in our future endeavors.