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

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."

Comments

Re:Wish they'd put that much effort into their gam

[Vermonter]

Maybe it doesn't feel like it in the US, but their Bemani division (the division that produces all of their rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution, Pop'n Music, Beatmania IIDX, etc) seems to be doing quite well. Beatmania IIDX just came out with it's 24th arcade installment this year and shows no signs of stopping.

is that lawful in Japan?

[muphin]

i dont live in Japan, but would like to know the legalities of this, a company preventing an ex-employee employment?

Re:is that lawful in Japan?

[Neo-Rio-101]

Mod Parent up.

The thing is that many employees who quit usually don't make a formal announcement that they are leaving, but instead will simply stop showing up to work... leaving no message to the old company and leaving no paper trail. Possibly changing phone numbers and rental apartment addresses before starting a new job so the old company can't track them.

That's how you avoid uncomfortable meetings with managers when you tell them you are leaving.