Dragon Ball Sparking Zero! performed better than anyone could’ve expected. A rejuvenation of the Budokai Tenkaichi series, Sparking Zero! immediately set the gaming world aflame, clearing three million sold units in under 24 hours. On October 14, Bandai Namco proudly celebrated the game as the fastest-selling title among all Dragon Ball games before it.
A day later, on October 15, Bloomberg reported that the publisher was canceling several titles due to “lackluster demand.” Additionally, Bandai Namco allegedly sent around 200 of its estimated 1,300 employees to “expulsion rooms” where they were given no tasks to complete. Reportedly, expulsion rooms are explicitly used by some Japanese companies to pressure their workers to voluntarily resign. (As Japan has strict labor protection laws.)
Allegedly, 100 employees have resigned over the past few months with more expected to follow. Bandai Namco, however, rejected the allegations that the company utilized expulsion rooms on their employees. “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 Bandai Namco representative stated.
Bandai namco lays employees off amid roaring success of ‘Dragon Ball Sparking Zero!’
“There is no organization like an ‘oidashi beya’ [expulsion room] at Bandai Namco Studios designed to pressure people to leave voluntarily,” the statement concludes. The momentum of Dragon Ball Sparking Zero! shows no signs of stopping. On Steam, it has over 23,000 reviews with a consensus of “Very Positive.” As of this writing, it also boasts an 82% among critics across both Metacritic and OpenCritic.
This awful news occurred in a year where prolific video game publishers are laying developers off constantly. It doesn’t quell the fears of many when a game succeeds as “objectively” as possible — to still result in layoffs. A dark cloud looms over the world of AAA development, and it seems as though that bubble may be gearing up to burst sooner than expected. With any hope, the games industry will hit a point of stabilization and safety for its many workers.
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The post Despite Overwhelming Initial Success of ‘Dragon Ball Sparking Zero!’, Bandai Namco Announces Layoffs appeared first on VICE.
