Bandai Namco is allegedly cutting its headcount

New Naruto and One Piece games have reportedly been cancelled or paused at the company.
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Bandai Namco is allegedly cutting its workforce, following the underperformance of several recent releases, and decisions to cancel or pause development on a range of upcoming titles, including Naruto and One Piece games, and a title commissioned by Nintendo.

Per reporting from Bloomberg, the company is not outright laying off staff, but sources have alleged it’s encouraging staff to resign by sending them to “oidashi beya” explusion rooms where they are given few or no work tasks. It’s alleged around 100 staff have resigned already, and more are expected to leave in future. Bloomberg notes the oidashi beya technique is common in Japan, as the country has incredibly strict labour protection laws that prevent widespread layoffs.

Bandai Namco has refuted these allegations in a statement to Bloomberg, claiming there is no oidashi beya practice in place, and that it’s not pressuring staff to leave.

“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 spokesperson said.

“There is no organisation like an ‘oidashi beya’ at Bandai Namco Studios designed to pressure people to leave voluntarily.”

Read: Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero review – Blast ’em away

As Bloomberg notes, Bandai Namo recently announced a string of changes for its planned games lineup, following underperformance. Online game Blue Protocol was announced for shut down in late August 2024, and its Western release was cancelled entirely. Other mobile games were shuttered, and plans for upcoming games were reportedly altered.

Bloomberg alleges this has put Bandai Namco in a tough position, where resignations are needed, but restricted by strong employment laws. For its part, the company has claimed it’s not looking to push employees out.

At this stage, the next steps for the company are unclear, but it’s worth noting it could already be back on track for long-term success, as its latest release, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is making waves. As announced, the game sold 3 million copies worldwide within 24 hours of release, and it will likely continue to sell well in future.

Leah J. Williams is a gaming and entertainment journalist who's spent years writing about the games industry, her love for The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS and every piece of weird history she knows. You can find her tweeting @legenette most days.