Nintendo of America closes its Redwood City and Toronto offices, about 100 employees reportedly laid off
When you think of Nintendo of America, the first thing that might come to mind is their well-known Redmond, Washington building, which effectively serves as the headquarters for that branch of the company and is where all the localizations take place. You might not have known that Nintendo also has a number of other buildings dotted around the United States and Canada, which serve as sales and marketing offices. In a sudden decision, however, Nintendo has closed two of those offices--the ones in Toronto, Ontario, and Redwood City, California specifically. The news appears to come as somewhat of a surprise, not just to the public, but also to the employees at those respective Nintendo locations, as an anonymous source at Kotaku claims that the now displaced staff--about 100 former employees--are upset at this decision. According to a statement from Nintendo, some of that staff will be kept on and instead moved to the Redmond and Vancouver locations.
The office closures also come with the resignation of Nintendo of America's SVP of Sales and Marketing, Nick Chavez, a role once held by the current president of NOA, Doug Bowser. An update to Chavez's LinkedIn profile shows that after years of working at Nintendo, he will be moving to Yum! Brands, where he'll be in the sales and marketing department for Kentucky Fried Chicken. With his departure, Devon Pritchard will be the new SVP of Sales and Marketing.
Nintendo of America headquarters are in Redmond, WA, and Vancouver, BC. We are moving more of our employees and operations into those headquarters and will be closing small satellite offices in Toronto, ON, and Redwood City, CA, over time.
Devon Pritchard, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs and Publisher Relations for Nintendo of America (NOA), will assume interim leadership of Sales, Marketing and Communications following the departure of Nick Chavez. Ms. Pritchard will oversee strategy and execution of sales, marketing and communications across the U.S. and Canada.
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