Bandai Namco Is Reportedly Cancelling Projects Featuring Naruto And One Piece Amidst Alleged ‘layoffs’

All is not well at Bandai Namco as the Japanese Studio is reportedly canceling projects involving IPs related to Naruto and One Piece licenses amidst layoffs.

The reports of cancelations come right after the global success of Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, which has managed to meet fan expectations. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about several other games, some of which might have been under development. As reported by Bloomberg, the Japanese studio is also facing a wave of fresh “layoffs,” and over 100 people might have already resigned.

Bandai Namco’s layoffs are taking place in typical Japanese fashion

Unlike corporations in the West, Japanese organizations have a different way of letting go of workers. More than 200 workers have been reportedly sent to rooms where they have nothing to work on. The idea is to force them to leave voluntarily, and over 100 people have already resigned.

Incidentally, a spokesperson for Bandai Namco has refused the existence of such a practice while speaking to Bloomberg.

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

As for the projects, the cancelations have been done based on “comprehensive assessments” of the situations.

 “Our decisions to discontinue games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation.”

The fresh news will be disappointing for those who specifically love anime-based titles. Any positive momentum gained after the successful launch of Dragon Ball Sparking Zero might now be lost entirely. It will be interesting to see if there will be a new game featuring Naruto or One Piece licenses in the near future.