Source: Bandai Namco
After the successful launch of ‘Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero’, Bandai Namco is in hot water with questionable layoffs and numerous game cancellations.
Japanese video game publisher Bandai Namco has reportedly cancelled development on multiple titles, including projects involving iconic anime franchises like ‘One Piece’ and ‘Naruto’. A contract project with fellow Japanese publisher Nintendo was also axed.
According to a report by Bloomberg, which cited sources familiar with the situation, these cancellations came as a result of layoffs as Bandai Namco is looking to downsize its workforce. The publisher also pointed towards “lacklustre demand” as the reason behind these cancellations.
The reported cancellation of the ‘One Piece’ and ‘Naruto’ games comes as a surprise when Bandai Namco experienced much success with the launch of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero earlier this month.
Despite the first Dragon Ball anime instalment premiering all the way back in 1986, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero reportedly sold more than three million copies in the first 24 hours of its release. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is also the latest entry to Bandai Namco's Budokai Tenkaichi series, which didn't see a new release in 15 years. Following its explosive release, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is the most successful title in the series to date.
Bandai Namco did not comment further on what led to its decision to the cancellations, but told Bloomberg that “our decisions to discontinue games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation.”
Bandai Namco accused of forcing employees in ‘Expulsion Rooms’
In order to facilitate its downsizing efforts, Bandai Namco reportedly resorted to the Japanese practice of “oidashi beya”, which literally translates to “Expulsion Room” in English. This practice, which came about as a way to skirt around tight job security laws, involved placing workers into expulsion rooms where they were given nothing to work on until they were forced to voluntarily resign.
According to Bloomberg’s report, an estimated 200 of Bandai Namco’s 1,300 employees have been put in expulsion rooms, with around 100 already forced to quit.
Bandai Namco however denied its use of expulsion rooms in a statement to Bloomberg, saying “there is no organisation like an ‘oidashi beya’ at Bandai Namco Studios designed to pressure people to leave voluntarily.”
"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," Bandai Namco’s representative added.
