Bandai Namco, once a dominant force in Japanese gaming, continues to face financial decline as it navigates the consequences of adopting Western influences and political policies, driven in part by pressures from major financial players like BlackRock through ESG and DEI mandates.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the company has reportedly cancelled several projects, including games from popular franchises such as One Piece and Naruto. Developers assigned to these now-scrapped titles are allegedly being sidelined with no work, a tactic that appears aimed at encouraging voluntary resignations to avoid paying severance packages.
The report suggests that around 200 employees at Bandai Namco Studios are facing this treatment, including those working on a now-canceled project commissioned by Nintendo. Bandai Namco has a history of collaborating with Nintendo on major titles such as Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS, Wii U, and Ultimate, as well as Pokkén Tournament.
The company also contributed significantly to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, creating more than half of the assets for courses, characters, and kart parts.
Additionally, Bandai Namco is reportedly employing the use of “oidashibeya,” or expulsion rooms, a controversial tactic aimed at pressuring employees to resign voluntarily rather than firing them.
These employees, numbering around 200, are allegedly reassigned to alternate departments or offices but given no tasks, required to clock in as usual while sitting idle. Some have reportedly taken the opportunity to job hunt during this time, a practice that might be viewed as a perk in Western work cultures, where browsing the internet on company time would be considered a paid break.
A Bandai Namco representative responded to Bloomberg, stating that game cancellations are based on “comprehensive assessments of the situation” and that employees may need to wait for reassignment to new projects.
The company denied the use of expulsion rooms, claiming, “there is no organization” like that in place to force resignations, and declined to elaborate on leaks concerning this practice, only acknowledging their awareness of the reports.
Just months ago, Bandai Namco faced significant financial strain following the sudden termination of the MMORPG Blue Protocol before its Western release.
The project, developed in partnership with Amazon Games, became a lightning rod for controversy due to its heavy censorship, including the toning down of female character outfits and race-swapping in promotional materials across regions to meet diversity quotas.
Despite Blue Protocol‘s closure, Bandai Namco reaffirmed its commitment to inclusivity and diversity, with its Quality Assurance department presenting on DE&I initiatives during the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference (CEDEC).
This is yet another sobering example in an industry grappling with large scale commercial failures, marked by a wave of layoffs in recent years. Much of this upheaval is attributed to modern game development companies prioritizing politically acceptable themes and inclusivity over delivering high-quality titles that reflect their original vision.
Bandai Namco’s Online division, responsible for games like Blue Protocol and Gundam Evolution, faced insolvency after reporting a staggering $51.57 million loss. Furthermore, Bandai Namco Studios posted a loss of ¥3.983 billion yen for the fiscal year ending in March 2024, as the company’s core game development division continues to struggle.
Despite declaring plans to focus on quality over quantity earlier this year, the few games Bandai Namco has produced, either independently or in collaboration with partners like FromSoftware, have been criticized for being influenced by foreign ideology, diversity, and inclusivity initiatives.
This includes a shift in language, such as avoiding male/female terminologies when creating / selecting players in titles like SYNDUALITY: Echo of Ada.
While Bandai Namco resists distancing itself from Western influence in its game design, it continues to suffer financial losses, though not as severely as other Japanese companies similarly prioritizing agendas aligned with financial entities like BlackRock over consumer preferences.
In an effort to curb losses, Bandai Namco is canceling more projects that were either in development or pre-production, while pressuring employees to resign voluntarily as part of a cost-saving strategy. However, this approach is unlikely to yield lasting results or provide a sustainable path to recovery for a company whose products are increasingly falling out of favor with today’s consumers both domestically and abroad.
These consumers, feeling alienated by the push of radical leftist ideology in today’s games are being sidelined in favor of an imagined “modern audience” that companies are striving to cater to at the expense of their traditional fanbase, resulting in these drastic measures being taken in the first place.
