Game company Nintendo of America confirmed to a news website recently that it is officially closing its two North American offices. The two offices are the ones located in Redwood City, California and Toronto, Canada. Nintendo of America stated that they would be moving their employees to their satellite offices located in Redmond, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Aside from the announcement of the office closures, they also announced that Nick Chavez, the company’s Senior Vice President for sales and marketing, will also step down. Devon Pritchard, its current Executive Vice President of Business Affairs and Publisher Relations, will be taking over the leadership.
According to sources gathered by news website Kotaku, an estimate of 100 employees is displaced due to the closure of the two offices.
No further details have been given on the fate of the 100 displaced employees if they will be transferred to the satellite offices or be laid off from the company. Nintendo has also faced some hardship as the COVID-19 pandemic has affected its workforce, causing some employees to work from home or on limited skeletal work.
Although company adjustments are in motion, it did not stop Nintendo from releasing the OLED model of the Nintendo Switch on October 8. The first version of its successful and best-selling handheld gaming console was released in 2017, selling 89.04 million units worldwide. The number of units sold has already surpassed its previous handheld consoles (the 3DS, Game Boy Advance, DS, Wii, Game Boy), and it is the fourth best-selling console for the company.
The Nintendo Switch has also paved the way for game developers and publishers to rerelease previous popular titles for the delight of old and new fans. The popular games released for the Nintendo Switch are Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses, to name a few.