Bandai Namco Is Forcing Developers To Leave But Not Firing Them

Bandai Namco is a remarkable name in the gaming industry, recognized for its diligent quality control, and continued excellence toward game-making that it’s cultured over the years. Bloomberg’s latest report that corroborates personnel close to the story at hand, however, puts the company in a different light. 

As per the report, not only has Bandai canceled multiple games in production, it’s also trying to lay people off, but not in a straightforward way. Sources close to the site have reported that the company is employing a traditional Japanese methodology to reduce its workforce in an attempt to navigate Japan’s strict labor protection laws. 

Said methodology is called “Oidashi beya,” otherwise called “expulsion rooms.” The idea is to make the workers go and sit in specific rooms, stripping them of any of their work duties. This would give the bosses probable cause to fire these people due to lacking performance reports. I’m not sure how this is allowed or even doable in a country with tight labor legislation. 

Our decisions to discontinue games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation. 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,” affirmed a company spokesperson. 

It’s also worth mentioning that a strange website, going by the name of Leak Press, published claims of mistreatment over at Bandai. There’s no proof of the legitimacy of the site, and the publisher continues to investigate it.  

Bandai Namco Canceled Projects Earlier In The Year As Well

In February this year, Bandai Namco released an earnings report, confirming that it’s canceled five different projects to focus on quality instead of quantity. 

We have changed our development structure since the second half of the previous fiscal year, setting stricter standards for proceeding with development, narrowing down titles, and recording development expenses,” confirmed the industry giant.