Bandai Namco Announces Staff Reductions Impacting Over 100 Employees in Japan
By Bandai Namco witnessed 100 employees depart in Japan last year—however, it remains uncertain whether these were voluntary exits or terminations.
According to Automaton, the online database for Japan’s Pension Service (JPS) reflects the number of insured employees at a company. Bandai Namco’s website lists 1,294 employees as of April 1, 2024; the JPS site indicates 1,177 employees, suggesting that 117 individuals have departed since then.
These exits follow a report from Bloomberg indicating that the Japanese game developer was “pressuring” up to 200 employees based in Tokyo (from a total 1,300 workforce) to resign. Alleged methods included isolating team members in rooms with no tasks, and it was rumored at the time that nearly 100 employees had already departed voluntarily.
What’s the issue? Last year, Bandai Namco encountered a significant loss connected to its action-MMO, Blue Protocol. The game was only available in Japan and was set to be published by Amazon Games in the west, but the developer canceled the agreement and shelved the game in January 2025.
The internal team responsible for creating online games like Blue Protocol, which had previously closed down Gundam Evolution a year following that title’s release, was dissolved at the end of 2024.
More recently, the Bandai Namco subsidiary Reflector Entertainment let go of employees in November 2024 and January 2025. These reductions followed the underwhelming performance of its inaugural title, Unknown 9. Plans to evolve the game into a transmedia project have been abandoned, and the studio is currently working on a project based on a previously established Bandai Namco IP.
Despite these layoffs, the developer has recently announced that Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero! has sold 5 million copies. Its latest third quarter earnings for the 2024-2025 fiscal year also showed “positive results” for Elden Ring due to DLC and re-sales.
Game Developer has contacted Bandai Namco for comments and will likely provide updates when a reply is received.
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Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com
A native of Kansas City, MO, Justin Carter has contributed to various platforms including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his work can also be found at io9 on Gizmodo. Don’t ask him how much gum he’s chewed, as the answer is likely more than he’s willing to acknowledge.