Bandai Namco скорочує штат після скасування кількох ігор. Але цікавим є спосіб, у який компанія це робить. Повідомляється, що студія уникає примусово звільняти людей та переводить їх на посади без обов’язків у пусті приміщення. Таким чином Bandai Namco тисне на працівників, щоб вони звільнились добровільно. Про це повідомляє Bloomberg.

Since April 2024, Bandai Namco Studios has transferred about 200 of its 1300 employees to such positions, and almost half of them have already quit, according to anonymous sources. More people are expected to leave in the coming months.

The Japanese even have their own term for this – oidashi beya, or “expulsion rooms”. Japanese companies resort to this method of dismissal because of some of the world’s strictest labor protection laws.

Employees are usually not given any work-related tasks, and the longer they stay in such conditions, the lower their severance pay will be. Many employees use the time spent in these rooms to look for other jobs.

This fall, the anonymous website Leak Press appeared. The site is available only in Japanese and has several publications accusing Bandai Namco of unfair practices against employees.

Bandai Namco stated that its goal is not to “push out” employees and the company does not use the practice of oidashi beya.

“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,” a representative of Bandai Namco said.

Bandai Namco is a legendary name in the gaming industry that dates back to 1980 when the company released the arcade game Pac-Man. Its current games include Dragon Ball and Gundam. The company is also known for publishing Dark Souls and Elden Ring.

In the summer, the company shut down the Tales of the Rays smartphone game and announced that in January it would stop developing the big-budget online game Blue Protocol. It was also decided to cancel the development of several Naruto and One Piece games, as well as an unknown project commissioned by Nintendo.