According to a report from IGN, Bandai Namco is investigating a bomb threat made against their U.S. office in Santa Clara, California. IGN received a tip about the bomb threat. They reached out to Bandai Namco for a statement, who said the following:
At the moment, it is impossible to know if the threat is genuine or understanding the motivations behind the person who made it. Such threats against companies seem to be getting more and more common, with sometimes tragic events unfolding. Last year a shooter injured three people at YouTube HQ before killing herself. The Japanese company Kyoto Animation suffered an arson attack recently resulting in the deaths of 35 people. Recently, a similar threat got made against Square Enix.
We can’t provide any comment regarding the validity of the threat as there is an ongoing investigation in progress. We can say that all our employees are safe and that we will be doing everything in our power to safeguard the well being of our employees.
Recent claims about video games being responsible for mass shootings, made by prominent public figures and politicians with no evidence of their claims, are potential for creating a culture of aggression around the industry. A typical target for blame during the 90s were various massive metal acts, with Marilyn Manson getting blamed for the Columbine shooting. This lead to the performer receiving hundreds of death threats every day.
While there is currently no known motive for the bomb threat, it’s not hard to imagine a world where increased antagonism towards an entire industry increases such threats towards that industry.
With luck, the bomb threat turns out to be fake and there’s no real danger exists towards people who are merely trying to go to work every day and do their jobs.
