Konami announced today that they will be closing their Silicon Valley office in Redwood City, California, and consolidating their US operations into their El Segundo office near Los Angeles.
All Konami employees in the Redwood City office will be given the opportunity to move down to Los Angeles, a source close to Konami told Wired News. Employees were told this morning of the closing, which will take place by the end of July, according to a statement released today by Konami.
This could result in a major staff shakeup at Konami, since it's easy to imagine quite a few employees being unwilling to pull up roots and move themselves and their families from northern California down to the Los Angeles area.
As the company's entire public relations, marketing, and operations staff are located in Redwood City, Konami could be in need of many new employees soon enough.
The Redwood City office has been the home of Konami's US operations since 1999. In 2003, the company opened its El Segundo office and made it the base of the company's global operations, renaming to Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
At the time, none of the staff at the Redwood City office were relocated to El Segundo.
In this morning's statement, Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. chairman and CEO Kazami Kitaue said of the consolidation, "In order to grasp the rapid change of entertainment trends and take timely strategic action, having all functions under one roof is critical."
