Konami's Nikkei report

According to a on Nikkei.com, the corporate culture at Konami, home of Metal Gear, Silent Hill and Pro Evolution Soccer, hasn’t only soured over the past few years, but has become almost terrifyingly Orwellian.

Nikkei’s report alleged that the culture at the corporation’s video game division, famous for its console games, worsened in around 2010 when a mobile title called Dragon Collection became a smash hit. As a social game for phones, development costs were low and profit returns were huge.

Background
Not long after, the report said, Konami’s corporate bosses shifted the company’s focus away from traditional, hardcore games and towards cheaper, and potentially more lucrative social titles.

In a country where mobile gaming has exploded in popularity, the fact Konami has pivoted to this type of offering isn’t in itself surprising. What is, however, are some of the office conditions Nikkei reports have arisen as a result of the shift, especially with regards to how Konami treats employees.


 * 1) Kojima Productions, the studio behind the then-upcoming Metal Gear Solid V was simply known as "Number 8 Production Department." The computers in this section, said Nikkei, were allegedly not connected to the internet and were only able to send internal messages.
 * 2) Nikkei reported that employees leaving the company offices during their lunch break were having their absences monitored with time cards. Those who had stayed out too long were publicly humiliated by having their names announced throughout the company.
 * 3) That there were cameras in the office corridors that weren’t there for security, but rather to monitor the movements of Konami’s own employees.
 * 4) That most Konami employees did not have their own permanent company email addresses. Staff who must deal with people outside the company, such as sales and PR did; however, everyone else routinely had their address randomised and changed every few months.
 * 5) That Konami game developers who weren’t seen as useful were reassigned to jobs as security guards, cleaning staff at the company’s fitness clubs or roles at a pachi-slot machine factory.
 * 6) That one former employee, upon announcing on Facebook that they had left Konami and had got a new job elsewhere, had their post monitored.
 * 7) Nikkei said remaining Konami staff members who "liked" the post were all reshuffled within the company.

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