Bandai Namco is reportedly canceling upcoming games, including a few of the most popular titles, such as One piece And Naruto. Although the gaming industry is known for being quite volatile, this news may come as a bit of a shock to fans after the recent success of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero.
In an explanation to BloombergA source close to Bandai Namco did not comment on the specific cancellation of the game titles, but they did make it clear that it will be “some time” before employees are given their next projects, stating,
“Our decisions to suspend games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation … Some employees may need to wait a certain amount of time before being assigned their next project, but we are moving forward with assignments as new projects emerge.”
Bandai Namco is reportedly canceling popular titles as one piece
The cancellation of the popular titles are based on the assessment of the company
The reports of the canceled games come after Bloomberg came out with statements from sources allegedly close to the company. The statements noted that some games and titles have been canceled or put on an indefinite hiatus. Although no specific titles were mentioned in the statements, Bandai Namco has shut down multiple projects over the past year. Zarmena Khan At PlayStation Lifestyle Note that cancellations included MMO Blue Protocol And the mobile game Stories of rays.
Related
This news comes just after the hit success of Dragon Ball Sparking! ZeroA game that sold over 3 million copies in 24 hours, as reported by Rhianun Bhavan At The gamer. But this success may not be enough to provide momentum for the upcoming titles. Bloomberg’s source could not confirm or deny any specifics about upcoming releases, but recognized that the upcoming canceled projects are due to a general lack of interest. The source said, “Our decisions to suspend games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation. Bevan Notes The potential canceled titles include One piece And NarutoAs well as a potential project with Nintendo.
Bandai Namco is also cutting jobs
Cutting costs can come at a hefty price
The cut titles aren’t the only cuts Bandai Namco is making; Bloomberg also reports that the company is urging employees to leave as a result of removing titles. The alleged pressure comes when the employees are sent to “Expulsion rooms“or”association rooms“, where they are not given projects or tasks and essentially have nothing to do. Bloomberg notes that this has happened to an alleged 200 of 1300 employees, with 100 of these employees already planning to leave. Bandai Namco denies these practices exist for this reason of encouraging employees to quit, but says some employees simply need to have downtime before taking on a new project.
Although there are no specifics on which titles have been cut, Bandai Namco is sure to remove titles from the roster. Whether this actually has an impact on the treatment of employees is not confirmed. However, there certainly seem to be some big changes at the company that will have a massive impact on their role in the gaming community.
Source: The gamer, PlayStation Lifestyle, Bloomberg