Capcom employees in Osaka are back in their offices despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has claimed nearly 8,500 lives in the region, according to a Business Journal report.
As translated by Kotaku, the Osaka-based company said it is abandoning remote work due to an inability to secure its data, as evidenced last year when Capcom suffered a massive breach.
“We are abandoning the remote network for the time being, and it was decided there is no choice but to come to work,” Capcom said. This has resulted in anxiety inside Capcom.
As a result of last year’s detrimental data breach and Capcom’s inability to secure external networks employees used in their home setups, the company has “forced employees” to return to work. Capcom noted, however, that work hours have been staggered and telecommuting was implemented. Inside the office, masks are required, social distancing is enforced, and temperatures are checked every time an employee enters the building.
The company was hacked in November 2020 by a group called Ragnar Locker. The hacker collective gained access to Capcom’s internal network, compromising 1TB of employee and customer data, including personal information, financial reports, and corporate secrets.
Capcom said that the health of its employees is a top priority even after mandating them to return to the office. The company told Kotaku that it “strives to provide a workplace environment with the utmost consideration given to the health and safety of employees.”
Capcom also said that while there are no unions currently established at the company and there are no talks to form one at present, the company isn’t opposed to employees unionizing. This is especially important since, according to Business Journal, there are larger corporate issues to deal with. One example is flexible work hours being dependent on one’s position.
“While there are none currently active within the company, employees are free to form labor unions,” Capcom said. “Capcom strictly observes all relevant laws and regulations regarding employees forming labor unions.”
In other Capcom news, the company is warning players of email scams containing early access to Resident Evil Village. The email, sent from a ‘no-reply(at)capcom(dot)com’ address, appears to be a phishing scam attempting to gain access to personal information.
Capcom has a few games in the works right now. Alongside Resident Evil Village (which launches on May 7), the company is also developing two Monster Hunter titles–Monster Hunter Rise (March 26) and Monster Hunter Stories 2 (July 2021)–and Pragmata (2022).
