Street Fighter X Tekken head Yoshinori Ono says publisher gave him no respite after hospitalization, forbids any sort of union formation or worker advocacy.
Developer quality-of-life issues have plagued the game industry for years, but the critiques often originate from anonymous sources, as was the case with complaints at Electronic Arts, Rockstar San Diego, and Team Bondi. However, the latest round of quality-of-life complaints comes from a familiar name, as Street Fighter X Tekken producer Yoshinori Ono is taking his own employer, Capcom, to task for overworking employees.
In an interview with Eurogamer, Ono said, “Capcom doesn’t allow a trade union or any sort of worker movement you see. So if I complain I will probably get sacked. You have to say it for me, OK? I want you to write: ‘Capcom overworks Ono.’ That’s your headline.”
Ono temporarily stepped down from his position in March after a health scare landed him in the hospital. The developer told Eurogamer that even that didn’t buy him much breathing room from Capcom’s demanding work schedule.
“Nobody told me to take a rest,” Ono said. “When I returned to work, Capcom didn’t even acknowledge that I had been in hospital. There was no change in my schedule. I was at home for an entire week before the doctors allowed me to return to work. When I returned to my desk there was a ticket to Rome [for a publicity junket] waiting for me. There’s no mercy. Everyone in the company says: ‘Ono-san we’ve been so worried about you.’ Then they hand me a timetable and it’s completely filled with things to do.”
As of press time, Capcom had not responded to GameSpot’s requests for comment.
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