Justin Carter, Contributing EditorFebruary 6, 20252 Min ReadImage via Bandai Namco.At a GlanceBlue Protocol's closure may have left its mark on Bandai Namco, which has seemingly lost nearly 120 devs in nine months.It appears the number of Bandai Namco staff has quietly shunk for nearly a full year.Per Automaton, the online database for Japan's Pension Service (JPS) includes the number of insured employees at a company. Bandai Namco's website shows 1,294 employees as of April 1, 2024; the JPS page shows 1,177 employees, meaning 117 people have left between then and now.In October 2024, Bloomberg reported the Japanese developer was "pressuring" up to 200 Tokyo-based employees (of a then-overall 1,300 worker headcount) to resign. Alleged actions involved putting team members in rooms with nothing to do, and it was claimed at the time that nearly 100 employees had already left voluntarily.Why the effort? Last year, Bandai Namco faced a huge loss with its action-MMO, Blue Protocol. The game was only playable in Japan and was set to be published by Amazon Games in the west, but the developer terminated the deal and killed the game in January 2025.The internal team that makes online games like Blue Protocol, and which had already shut down Gundam Evolution a year after that game's launch, was dissolved at the end of 2024.More recently, the Bandai Namco subsidiary Reflector Entertainment laid off staff in November 2024 and January 2025. The cuts came after the commercial underperformance of its debut title, Unknown 9. Plans to expand the game into a transmedia venture have been scrapped, and the studio is now working on a project based on a pre-existing Bandai Namco IP.Despite these reductions, the developer has recently revealed Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero! sold 5 million copies. Its recent third quarter earnings for the 2024-2025 fiscal year also noted "favorable results" for Elden Ring due to DLC and repeat sales.Game Developer has reached out to Bandai Namco for comment, and will update when a response is given.Read more about:Bandai NamcoAbout the AuthorJustin CarterContributing Editor, GameDeveloper.comA Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.See more from Justin CarterDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like