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mr-young
Joined: 06 Sep 2014
Posts: 7
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 4:53 pm
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All konani needs to do now is to restrict toilet breaks to under 5 minutes
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Mr. Oshawott
Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 5:02 pm
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Man...Konami is faring just as bad as Sega had, perhaps even worse. The money from the mobile market and the pachinko machines must have really broken their sanity. Here's hoping the employees have better luck at other gaming companies.
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americananimotk
Joined: 13 Mar 2012
Posts: 42
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 5:18 pm
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I can see why Naoki Maeda, the creator of Dance Dance Revolution left the company and started making music games for Capcom. CROSSXBEATS seems to me to be some sort of revenge project considering that the concept and a few of the songs in the game make direct stabs at Konami.
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Jackanapes
Joined: 27 May 2015
Posts: 119
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 5:28 pm
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Kind of looks 3rd Party Japanese developers just want to do away with the idea of competition altogether and essentially hand Bandai Namco Entertainment and Square Enix the reigns since they're the only ones in that category that seem to be doing well lately and making smart business moves, particularly the former that never stopped while the latter has recently started to again under new management. It kind of puts things into perspective when the greatest crime the former seems to have inflicted on the public is waifu denial and too many DLC options. The latter had a really bad decade under Yoichi Wada but seems to have started the recovery well.
Seriously though anytime I hear news about a classic Japanese developer nowadays aside from those two it always seems to be bad news be it the death of a great guy like Iwata or some story about how they shot themselves and their best creative talents in the foot.
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AiddonValentine
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2207
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 6:41 pm
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It's actually kind of fascinating at how badly the executives at Konami have contracted apparent brain calcification. Then again if this kind of rep begins following them more acutely then I doubt people will want to work for them in the future. Talk about shooting long-term sustainability in the face.
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Crowjack
Joined: 22 Jun 2011
Posts: 40
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 6:47 pm
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1st game I ebought when I was a kid for my NES was Castlevania. I also have a very fond Christmas memory of opening and playing Metal Gear Solid on my ps1 Christmas morning. Now that Konami has not only turned their backs at console gamers but also mistreated the creators that made them who thet are ( once were ) I sadly will turn my backs on them. I don't see Konami ever getting another cent of my money. I understand wanting to take your company in a new a different direction. They have just gone about it in a horrible way that shows no respect to their roots and no appreciation to the fans and creators that made them a success. They are burnig bridges with respected game creators and fans alike. If the mobil market strategy they are trying to implement does not work out the way they want I don't see how they will ever be able to come back to console gaming. I mean if your job was making video games and you got a offer from Konami how excited would you be now? Defnitely not as much as people would have been years ago. Alot of people probably wouldn't even want to take that job now.
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BurgerKing-201
Joined: 12 Jun 2014
Posts: 49
Location: Los Angeles, California
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 6:56 pm
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Greed1914 wrote: | I'm curious about the randomized emails. I suppose I can see where that might help prevent leaks, but it also seems like a lot of effort and comes off as a bit paranoid. |
The randomized emails are likely to keep other companies from scouting their talent.
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brucepuppy
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 6:57 pm
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Reassigned as janitor? That's harsh and kinda unethical.
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taster of pork
Joined: 11 Nov 2008
Posts: 594
Location: My House
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 11:18 pm
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I wonder if Hideo Kojima will end up quiting and taking his next project to Kickstarter? After the major success of Shenmu 3, I'm sure that will become more common.
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BurgerKing-201
Joined: 12 Jun 2014
Posts: 49
Location: Los Angeles, California
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 11:20 pm
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taster of pork wrote: | I wonder if Hideo Kojima will end up quiting and taking his next project to Kickstarter? After the major success of Shenmu 3, I'm sure that will become more common. |
The only reason the things with Shenmue worked is because they still had a production budget separate from the Kickstarter, the Kickstarter was really only used to see if people really wanted it. Kind of a misuse of the system if you ask me.
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maoyen
Joined: 11 Dec 2007
Posts: 170
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 2:35 am
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leafy sea dragon
Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 3:24 am
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I can see why Konami would want to move to the mobile market; that's where the money seems to be at. Really, from a businessperson's perspective (not from a gamer's perspective or anyone else's), it's the logical thing to do, though the treatment of their employees is definitely not for the best. Stuff like demotion to janitors or security guards come off as petty revenge to me.
Unlike SEGA though, which gets million-sellers in the mobile market, Konami has yet to truly prove itself there.
For those of you who are calling this PR suicide, I don't think this information was ever meant to be leaked out. Even the densest of corporate heads know the way these workers are being abused is not good for the company's image. If word spreads about this mistreatment, they will try to do damage control or make people forget it happened.
Wrangler wrote: | I'd rather see those people get heck out of there. Those are terrible working conditions. If their being abused like that, they have talents, they should try go some where else or do something other working for micromanaging self-destructive company than Konami. |
The problem there is that unless another company specifically hires them (like with Gunpei Yokoi), they have to start from the bottom. Such is the life of a Japanese salaryman. It's why these creators are more likely to start their own companies than to find another one to join up with.
That being said, the time is right for an exodus to such a start-up. Problem is that I don't think there are any that's run by a Konami alumnus right now.
americananimotk wrote: | I can see why Naoki Maeda, the creator of Dance Dance Revolution left the company and started making music games for Capcom. CROSSXBEATS seems to me to be some sort of revenge project considering that the concept and a few of the songs in the game make direct stabs at Konami. |
Hmm. Maybe I was wrong about other companies not treating them well. In any case, Konami sounds like it's really trying to shed itself if one of its creators has turned to Capcom.
Jackanapes wrote: | Kind of looks 3rd Party Japanese developers just want to do away with the idea of competition altogether and essentially hand Bandai Namco Entertainment and Square Enix the reigns since they're the only ones in that category that seem to be doing well lately and making smart business moves, particularly the former that never stopped while the latter has recently started to again under new management. It kind of puts things into perspective when the greatest crime the former seems to have inflicted on the public is waifu denial and too many DLC options. The latter had a really bad decade under Yoichi Wada but seems to have started the recovery well.
Seriously though anytime I hear news about a classic Japanese developer nowadays aside from those two it always seems to be bad news be it the death of a great guy like Iwata or some story about how they shot themselves and their best creative talents in the foot. |
In addition to Bandai-Namco and Square-Enix, there's also the relative newcomer Level-5, which has been doing very well (and not just with Yo-kai Watch).
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Kadmos1
Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13558
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 7:56 am
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Article says:
Quote: | Former game creators who are no longer seen as useful have been reassigned to other jobs such as security guard, janitor, and mechanical work on pachi-slot machines. Several employees were shuffled around after pressing "like" on a former employee's Facebook post about leaving the company. |
Now that is just something else. It should be the current heads that should be doing that. However, we can raise the question if some of the former game creators are OK with this. Comparably, sometimes a person shifts jobs to a lesser-paying job and they are OK with it.
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Hoppy800
Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:20 am
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leafy sea dragon wrote: |
The problem there is that unless another company specifically hires them (like with Gunpei Yokoi), they have to start from the bottom. Such is the life of a Japanese salaryman. It's why these creators are more likely to start their own companies than to find another one to join up with.
That being said, the time is right for an exodus to such a start-up. Problem is that I don't think there are any that's run by a Konami alumnus right now.
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However the market for these are limited to the West and the rest of Asia only, since these are often using crowdfunding to fund projects and crowdfunding for games has not caught on in Japan.
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leafy sea dragon
Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 12:41 pm
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Yeah, for creators who have found success outside of Japan, like Hideo Kojima, it can work, but for those who have operated very Japanese games that never sold well internationally, they're out of luck.
Unless they actually did amass so much money that they don't need crowdfunding money, like Yuji Naka with Prope, Masahiro Sakurai with Sora, and Hironobu Sakaguchi with Mistwalker. These guys would probably welcome workers fleeing from Konami. (Or not...they might not have the budget or capacity. Of those three, only Sora is making games ambitious enough AND bringing in enough money that I know they'd benefit from a larger workforce.)
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