What you need to know
- Bandai Namco Entertainment is one of the biggest game publishers in the world, and is behind hugely popular titles like Elden Ring and Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO.
- According to a new report, the company has moved 200 of its staff into oidashi beya, or “expulsion rooms,” in an effort to pressure them to resign from their positions.
- In these rooms, workers are given no assignments, but understand their lack of productivity can be used as grounds to cut severance pay. Effectively, they’re designed to get employees to leave voluntarily without breaching Japan’s strict labor laws.
- In a statement, Bandai Namco has denied that it’s making use of oidashi beya, commenting that “some employees may need to wait a certain amount of time before they are assigned their next project.”
- The report comes after Bandai Namco cancelled multiple games, and notes that one of them was an unknown project in development with Nintendo. It also comes amidst widespread turmoil in the gaming industry, with over 23,000 cuts recorded since 2023.
As a tech enthusiast with a decade-long passion for gaming and a keen eye for industry trends, I find the recent report about Bandai Namco Entertainment deeply concerning. Having grown up admiring their games like Elden Ring, Tekken 8, and Gundam Revolution, it’s disheartening to see such a titan in the gaming world grappling with financial struggles.
Based on a recent report, it appears that Bandai Namco Entertainment, known for hits such as Elden Ring (FromSoftware) and potential releases like Tekken 8 and Gundam Revolution, is planning to reduce its workforce by approximately 200 employees out of a total of 1,300, following a series of game cancellations.
According to sources close to the situation, a Tokyo-based company has transferred approximately 200 employees to what are essentially “dismissal quarters.” In these areas, employees are not assigned tasks and find themselves looking for new job opportunities. The reason being, if they don’t perform well, their superiors can justify reducing their severance pay upon departure, encouraging them to leave willingly and swiftly. It is said that around 100 workers have already resigned, with more expected to follow in the coming days.
Occasionally, Japanese companies employ the use of “Oidashi beya” as a means to downsize their workforce while adhering to strict labor laws and regulations in the country. However, in response to Bloomberg’s inquiry, Bandai Namco has declared that they are not utilizing such rooms. Instead, some employees are temporarily waiting for reassignment within the company.
As a tech enthusiast speaking about my beloved game publishing company, let me clarify our approach when we decide to halt certain games. It’s not a hasty decision but rather the result of thorough evaluations and considerations. Sometimes, there might be a brief pause before team members are assigned to new projects as fresh opportunities arise. However, contrary to rumors, there’s no such thing as a ‘pressure house’ or ‘oidashi beya’ within Bandai Namco Studios where employees feel forced to leave willingly. We value each member of our team and strive for an environment that fosters growth and creativity.
Bandai Namco is one of the major game publishers, yet, similar to other gaming firms, it has faced financial hardships – a predicament that persists even amid successful releases such as Elden Ring and Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO, which debuted last week to much fanfare. The cause for these setbacks is often linked to people having less leisure time for gaming following the pandemic, leading to large-scale job cuts in 2023 and 2024.
Due to a decline in performance, Bandai Namco has had to make significant financial adjustments, which has resulted in the closure of various projects this summer. Earlier in the year, they shut down the mobile game Tales of the Rays and announced plans to close Blue Protocol, a popular free-to-play action RPG, in January. Additionally, Bloomberg suggests that development on several other games, including ones based on Naruto, One Piece, and a project with Nintendo, has been halted or canceled altogether.
Analysis: Devastating declines continue
Independent of whether Bandai Namco is employing “expulsion rooms” as the report indicates, the current state of the gaming industry is extremely volatile, with widespread layoffs and closures being commonplace. Even major publishers worldwide have been impacted by post-pandemic difficulties; Microsoft, for instance, let go 1,900 employees in January and another 650 last month.
According to assessments such as those made by DDM Games Investment Review, there seems to be a potential for recovery ahead; however, some experts caution that the downturn might persist until 2025. I remain optimistic about an improvement in the near term, but ultimately, the future remains unpredictable.
Most importantly, my heart goes out to the employees impacted by this situation at Bandai Namco, as well as those from other companies who might be forced to leave their jobs. I sincerely hope that they manage to secure new opportunities swiftly and effortlessly.
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2024-10-16 01:39