Bandai Namco Entertainment America will close its office in Santa Clara in Northern California, VentureBeat reports. The North American headquarters of the Japanese game company will open up a new office in Southern California, closer to the offices of parent company Bandai Namco Holdings USA in El Segundo and Anaheim.
Employees at the company have until the end of May to decide whether they want to move south or leave the company, with the transition expected to be complete by April 2022. Employees have the option of flexible or remote work until then, but come April everyone working at the company will have to be present in Southern California. According to sources cited by VentureBeat, employees have been told that full time remote work is not an option.
VentureBeat’s sources said that employees were taken by surprise by the announcement and many are upset by it, with some viewing the move as no different to a layoff.
“Bandai Namco Entertainment America will be moving its Santa Clara, California-based offices to Southern California,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement. “This decision has been made to enable different group companies within the Bandai Namco group to integrate and open new opportunities for cross-collaboration across its entire portfolio in both the digital and physical goods sectors.”
While it hasn’t been announced where in Southern California the new offices will be located, it’s likely the move has been made to be closer to Bandai Namco Holdings USA, which is headquartered in Anaheim, with another office in El Segundo. Other branches of the company specialize in toys, anime, arcade machines, and amusement parks.
