The publisher of Elden Ring, the Japanese company Bandai Namco, has taken action against a former employee, obtained an arrest warrant, and demanded the return of 600 million yen in stolen goods. Additionally, some heads rolled in the company: superiors of the ex-employee had to go because they allowed the person to get away with a blatant theft for 7 years.
What did the man do? On May 14, the head of Bandai Namco stated in a statement (via bandainamco) that a former employee of the Japanese developer has been sued and arrested for “embezzlement of company property.”
The person is not named, but it is alleged that they embezzled a total of 4,400 mobile devices owned by Bandai Namco between April 2015 and April 2022.
Without Bandai Namco’s explicit permission, the employee sold the 4,400 devices over a period of 7 years, making a profit of 600 million yen, which is about 3.6 million euros.
When this was discovered, the employee was terminated in December 2022, about six months after the thefts had stopped.
Heads rolled at Bandai Namco
This is how Bandai Namco responded: The developer filed a lawsuit in a civil court in January 2023 and then obtained a ruling against the employee in December 2023. Following that, a formal complaint was filed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, which led to the arrest of the ex-employee on May 14.
This is the consequence for the company: The developers also self-critically say that they have implemented internal measures to prevent such incidents from happening again. They plan to improve internal control systems and also bring in external experts. Additionally, they aim to collaborate as a group to avoid such incidents.
As the report indicates, some heads rolled: The number of directors in the company has been reduced, and “strict disciplinary actions” have been taken against the direct superiors of the individual.
The 3.6 million euros are not expected to affect the publisher’s financial figures for the next fiscal year. Apparently, it is anticipated that the new Elden Ring DLC will bring in so much money that the few million yen will not really make a difference: Elden Ring DLC: ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’ – Overview of release, prices, and editions
