Bandai Namco set to close Santa Clara office, employees asked to relocate Staff have until the end of May to make a decision, remote work not an option after April 2022 Danielle Partis Bandai Namco is closing its Santa Clara office next year, with plans to relocate the studio's employees to a new location. According to VentureBeat, employees at the studio have been given until the end of May to decide if they want to relocate. A source familiar with the news said that the decision "came out of the blue," and put the number of people currently at the studio between 150 and 200. Creative AssemblyDiscover more jobs in games Bandai will offer flexible or work-from-home options for current Santa Clara staff until April 2022. After that, employees will be required to operate from the new office under a hybrid arrangement of online and in-person work. Full-time remote working will not be an option. A spokesperson for the company issued a statement to VentureBeat, saying "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". An exact location for the new office has not been detailed yet, but it is expected to be somewhere between South Los Angeles and Orange County. Relocation and severance packages are reportedly being put together. ANUNCIO DE BANDAI NAMCO Publisher Bandai Namco announced today that it is opening a new company that will focus on making mobile games for markets outside of Asia. Bandai Namco Mobile’s HQ will be Barcelona, Spain. The new division will open in 2020, and it plans to begin hiring in the coming months. “Setting up a separate company for all our western mobile development and marketing allows us to react better to market tendencies and create higher quality content at a faster pace, as part of our long term vision for the business,” noted Naoki Katashima, chief executive officer of Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, Bandai Namco Entertainment America, and Bandai Namco Mobile, in a press release sent to GamesBeat. “We hope you look forward to great entertainment delivered by Bandai Namco Mobile.” Most of the publisher’s current mobile offerings focus on licensed games based on Dragon Ball and Naruto, as well as titles based on Bandai Namco’s iconic Pac-Man franchise. This new company will make it possible for Bandai Namco to expand its mobile strategy. This new division will also help bring gaming jobs to Spain. “The choice to settle in Barcelona was not a difficult one,” noted Tatsuya Kubota, chief operating officer of Bandai Namco Mobile, in the press release. “The city is not only one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it’s also the hotbed for international video game development and home to the best talent the mobile industry has to offer.”