As a longtime fan of Bandai Namco and someone who has witnessed their highs and lows over the years, it’s disheartening to see such reports about the current state of affairs within the company. I’ve followed their journey closely, from the triumphant releases of games like Tekken, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm, and One Piece Pirate Warriors, to the more recent struggles with projects like Blue Protocol.
Over the past few years, the video game industry has faced significant challenges, and Bandai Namco hasn’t escaped unscathed. According to a recent Bloomberg report, the company aims to address “low market interest” by reducing its workforce and shelving some ongoing projects in development.
According to reports, Bandai Namco is employing what some call traditional Japanese tactics to encourage employees to resign voluntarily, due to Japan’s stringent labor laws against mass layoffs. Allegedly, this strategy includes assigning workers to “waiting rooms,” or oidashi beya, where they are left idle and pressured to find new jobs swiftly. If they fail to do so, their severance pay could be diminished due to their perceived lack of productivity during their time in the waiting room.
According to the report, it’s been stated that approximately 200 Bandai Namco employees have been moved to certain rooms since April this year. Out of those, around 100 have already departed from the company, with a good number anticipated to do so over the coming months as well.
According to the report, it appears that several unannounced games involving the Naruto and One Piece intellectual properties, as well as a game originally commissioned by Nintendo, have been put on hold or cancelled altogether. This comes following the establishment of a new internal team within the Japanese company last November, which is now primarily dedicated to developing games specifically for Nintendo.
Bandai Namco representatives explain that the termination of certain games results from thorough evaluations of each situation. While some team members might have to hold off on starting a new project immediately, we continue to assign work as fresh projects become available. It’s worth noting that Bandai Namco Studios does not operate an ‘oidashi beya,’ which is a term referring to a workplace culture that encourages employees to leave voluntarily.
Bandai Namco has declared that they will no longer support their struggling MMORPG, Blue Protocol, and have unfortunately scrapped plans for a Western launch as well.
This year, I learned that a beloved Japanese publisher had to cancel several unannounced games following a financial hit of approximately 21 million yen due to a less-than-stellar performance from one of their titles. While they didn’t specify the game, many fans like me suspect it could be “Blue Protocol.
As a dedicated fan, I can’t help but share the excitement as our beloved company has recently achieved remarkable milestones. Just look at the staggering success of “Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO,” which managed to sell an incredible 3 million units within its first 24 hours on the market. It’s a testament to the enduring power of Dragon Ball and a triumph we can all be proud of!
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2024-10-15 18:41