As Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Explodes, Bandai Namco Is Reportedly Cutting Staff and Projects | Push Square
Video games publisher Bandai Namco has been culling both projects and staff due to «lackluster demand». That's according to a new report from Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources «familiar with the matter».
According to the report, Bandai Namco's approach to reducing staff is not to make them redundant, but to force them into leaving voluntarily. This «traditionally Japanese» method involves assigning people to rooms with no work-related tasks, where the staff members typically use their time to find other work before quitting.
Known as «oidashi beya» in Japan, this essentially means a company can avoid paying severance and steer clear of legal proceedings from fired employees making use of Japan's robust labour protection laws.
Bandai Namco has refuted that this practice is occurring in a statement to Bloomberg. «Our decisions to discontinue games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation,» it reads. «Some employees may need to wait a certain amount of time before they are assigned their next project, but we do move forward with assignments as new projects emerge. There is no organization like an 'oidashi beya' at Bandai Namco Studios designed to pressure people to leave voluntarily.»
The industry has faced an alarming number of job losses throughout this year and last, with many notable publishers and developers affected by a downward trend after the huge spike brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, many businesses grew rapidly, and the after effects have resulted in significant redundancies.
According to Bloomberg's report, Bandai Namco has sent 200 employees into those aforementioned rooms, resulting in about 100 resignations. The report's sources say more are expected to leave «in the coming months».
Game projects cancelled include ones featuring anime such as Naruto and One Piece, as well as a joint project with Nintendo.
This report comes as the publisher celebrates the success of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, which has sold 3
Read more on pushsquare.com
