Bloomberg has reported that publisher Bandai Namco has cut its workforce after canceling several titles due to lackluster demand, according to people familiar with the matter.

Video game publisher Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. is cutting its workforce after canceling several titles due to lackluster demand https://t.co/ATlBJOlHKe

— Bloomberg (@business) October 15, 2024

Last month, an anonymous website that launched last month alleged Bandai is using various methods to persuade people to leave. Bandai Namco is aware of the website but a representative said that the information is not accurate.

Due to Japan’s strict labor protection laws, Bloomberg is reporting that Bandai Namco is taking a traditional Japanese approach to reducing staff where they send workers to rooms where they are given nothing to do, putting pressure on them to leave voluntarily.

These oidashi beya, or “expulsion rooms” are sometimes used by Japanese corporations. Employees are typically given no work-related tasks, but are left with the knowledge that their performance will give managers ammunition to cut severance when they do leave. Many employees use this time in the “expulsion rooms” to look for other jobs.

Since April, Bandai Namco gas moved about 200 of its roughly 1,300 employees to oidashi beya where nearly 100 employees have resigned. More are expected to leave in the coming months, said the people discussing  private information.

Bandai Namco said its goal is not to push employees out of the company.

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

In January, Bandai Namco announced they would take down the online game Blue Protocol. Over the Summer, the company further shut down the mobile game Tales of the Rays. Titles that Bandai Namco decided to either cancel or pause development include a new Naruto and One Piece game, as well as a project that was commissioned by Nintendo.