It seems even Japanese gaming companies aren’t immune to the wave of layoffs and studio closures plaguing the industry. This time,Bandai Namco Entertainmentseems to have reduced its workforce by a sizable number.
While the company has not officially announced anything, some sleuthing has revealed that its employee numbers saw a major reduction.
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Japan Pension Service Lists Reduced Number of Employees For Bandai Namco
According to theonline database of Japan’s Pension Service(viaAutomaton), which houses info on the number of people each business has enrolled under their employee social security, the people working at Bandai Namco Entertainment has decreased by 117 people between April 2024 and February 2025.
Thecompany overviewof Bandai Namco Entertainment states that as of July 18, 2025, the publishing outfit had an employee count of 1,294. In comparison, the Japan Pension Service database, last updated on June 27, 2025, mentioned that the number of Bandai Namco employees is now down to 1,177.
In areport published in Octoberlast year, the company was accused of a tactic called “Oidashi Beya” or “expulsion rooms.” This was the company’s way of purportedly making employees quit without firing them directly.
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If Bandai Namco has indeed laid off a significant number of people, it comes at an odd time since the companyannouncedthis week that Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero had sold five million copies (not shipped).
This follows the numerous reports of studio closures and layoffs affecting the industry from last year, and continuing into 2025. Just in the first month of the year,one of Ubisoft’s big UK studios have closed down, Microsofthas also been affected, though it’s unknown how many people were trimmed from the company.
Just recently, BioWare hasalso been said to have been hit with layoffsdue to Dragon Age: The Veilguard’spoor sales performance. Yesterday, we reported on how Killer Instinct and Rumbleverse developer Iron Galaxy has laid off 66 employees to try to save the company from going under.
The sad part is that we’ll likely hear more news about studio closures in the coming weeks and months.
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The long-awaited MMORPG will be discontinued in Japan, which also means it won’t be released worldwide.
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