Nintendo of America has confirmed reports of a major restructure within its software and hardware testing team, to contend with the current circumstances of game development. According to an official statement shared with Kotaku, part of these changes will see some current employees laid off, and others offered full-time contracts.
Former employees speaking to Kotaku have claimed there is a “massive downsizing” effort underway, allegedly due to a delayed launch for the
While some employees will benefit from the
“Nintendo of America (NOA) has reorganised its Product Testing functions to drive greater global integration in game development efforts,” NOA told Kotaku. “The changes will also better align NOA with interregional testing procedures and operations.”
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“These changes will involve some contractor assignments ending, as well as the creation of a significant number of new full-time employee positions. For all assignments that are ending, the contractors’ agencies, with NOA’s support, will offer severance packages and provide assistance during their transition.”
“For those contractor associates who will be leaving us, we are tremendously grateful for the important contributions they’ve made to our business, and we extend our heartfelt thanks for their hard work and service to
Nintendo of America did not confirm the number of staff impacted by these changes, but sources speaking to Kotaku alleged up to 100 contractors could be laid off. They further alleged the reason behind these changes was a “lull” between major projects, as an alleged delay to the next
At this stage, it’s believe the console is targeting release in 2025. Presumably, capacity and the need for product testing will change in the lead-up to release. At this stage, not much is known about the console, or how