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Konami Reportedly Blacklisting Ex-Employees Across Japanese Video Game Industry (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the gaming-giants dept.

The Nikkei Asian Review newspaper is reporting that the Japanese entertainment company Konami is blacklisting former employees in the Japanese video game industry. "The company is particularly targeting those who work for Kojima Productions, which was founded in 2016 by Hideo Kojima, who used to be a top designer at Konami," reports Ars Technica. From the report: Furthermore, according to the article, Konami is pressuring other companies not to hire its former employees. As the Nikkei Asian Review wrote: "One ex-Kon described his surprise at learning that Konami had instructed an employee at a television company not to deal with its former employees. In another case, a former Konami executive was forced to close his business due to pressure from the gaming giant. Ex-Kons are not allowed to put their Konami experience on their public resumes. 'If you leave the company, you cannot rely on Konami's name to land a job,' explained a former employee. If an ex-Kon is interviewed by the media, the company will send that person a letter through a legal representative, in some cases indicating that Konami is willing to take them to court."

2 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Wish they'd put that much effort into their games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If Konami put half as much effort into developing their games as they apparently do into harassing their former employees, maybe they wouldn't get so much hate from gamers.

  2. Re:is that lawful in Japan? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not only lawful, it's not that uncommon a business practice. Konami is just being more open about it than most.

    Being common business practice doesn't make it lawful. Japan has labor laws comparable to other advanced economies - weaker than Europe certainly, but stronger than the US's "at will" employment. The problem is a cultural aversion to rocking the boat and demanding the legal rights that they should have.