Bandai Namco has taken the difficult step of discontinuing multiple titles it had in development and reducing its workforce. The reason why he took this drastic step is apparently the weak demand for some of his video games. Bloomberg reports that one of the canceled titles is a Nintendo-commissioned project, though it doesn’t say what it was.
“The Tokyo-based company has a traditionally Japanese approach to downsizing and sending workers to rooms where they have nothing to do, pressuring them to leave voluntarily, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private information. Since April, subsidiary Bandai Namco Studios Inc. has moved about 200 of its roughly 1,300 employees to such facilities, and nearly 100 have quit, the people said. More are expected to leave in the coming months, they said.”
“Over the summer, the company additionally shut down the Tales of the Rays smartphone game and said it would remove the big-budget online game Blue Protocol in January. It has also been decided to either cancel or pause the development of several games, including those featuring characters from the anime Naruto and One Piece, as well as a project commissioned by Nintendo Co.”
“Our decisions to suspend games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation. Some employees may need to wait a certain amount of time before being assigned their next project, but we continue with assignments as new projects come in,” said a Bandai Namco representative. “There is no organization like ‘oidashi beya’ at Bandai Namco Studios designed to pressure people to leave voluntarily.”
