Bandai Namco cancels games and cuts staff

Key Takeaways

Bandai Namco is reducing its workforce and canceling several upcoming titles due to lack of demand.
More than 100 employees have left the company so far, and 100 more are likely to resign in the coming months.
The company's most recent release, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, sold more than 3 million copies on its first day.

bandai namco It's reducing staff and canceling some titles due to weak demand, including a contract project with Nintendo. Despite the enormous sales volume of recently launched products, Dragon Ball: Sparking ZeroBandai Namco is reportedly shuffling its staff starting in April 2024 as it reevaluates some of the games in its pipeline.

In 2006, Bandai and Namco merged in an effort to reach new customers, and the company now owns some of the world's largest gaming franchises, including: iron fist, dark souland Ace Combat. Recent titles include: tekken 8 and Dragon Hall: Sparking Zero After a huge success, Bandai Namco recently announced an animated MMO. blue protocol The Japanese servers are scheduled to shut down in January 2025, so there will be no further releases worldwide. Japanese companies are now choosing to cut costs by reducing staff, but they are doing so in a unique way.

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According to Bloomberg, Bandai Namco is using a Japanese practice called 'odashibeya', which involves firing employees and having them resign voluntarily instead of receiving severance pay. Employees were moved to rooms with nothing to do, and in a frustrating manner, it is reported that about 100 Bandai Namco employees have resigned since April. A further 100 employees are expected to resign in the coming months. This practice is primarily used to circumvent the country's strict labor laws, which make it very difficult to fire employees without extreme economic circumstances.

More than 100 Bandai Namco employees have resigned since April 2024.

A Bandai Namco representative claims that the company is not using 'Oidashi Beya' to pressure people to leave on their own, but is instead asking certain employees to wait for their next assignment. Unfortunately, the company recently canceled the mobile title. story of raysIt also announced that it would cease development of several titles, including those featuring characters from popular anime and manga series. one piece and naruto. Bandai Namco will also cease work on a Nintendo-commissioned project, but no details about the game have been provided.

While these delays and canceled projects seem to be causing difficulties for Bandai Namco, the company is currently celebrating a big win: Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero. This is the first new item in . Budokai Tenkaichi Series after 15 years, Dragon Ball: Sparking ZeroAfter its launch on October 10, first-day sales worldwide exceeded 3 million. Additionally, concurrent players on Steam reached 122,554, proving that Bandai Namco still has a lot of magic in it.

Fans are excited for several upcoming anime-inspired releases from the developer, including a recent leak. Death Note: Killer Within and Bleach: Rebirth of the Soul. Neither of these titles have specific release dates, so gamers are hoping they won't be negatively affected by Bandai Namco's current situation.