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60 percent of Nintendo's marketing staff to leave

Wolfwood | June 08, 2007 | News | Company 
Earlier this week it became clear that Nintendo of America's decision to move its sales and marketing department from Redmond, Washington to either New York or San Francisco meant a lot of its current staff would not be able to continue working with the company. This was further exacerbated by the fact that several of Nintendo's key executives, including Senior VP of Marketing and Corporate Communications George Harrison, Senior Director of Public Relations Beth Llewelyn, and finally Marketing and Corporate Affairs VP Perrin Kaplan would all be leaving Nintendo of America... alongside a rumored 90 percent of the sales and marketing staff.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime clarified to Kotaku that the number of employees opting not to move with their department will be closer to 60 percent; still over half the sales and marketing department. Additionally, Fils-Aime did not explicitly confirm whether or not the aforementioned executives, all with years of experience working at Nintendo, are also exiting stage left.
Virtually all of the employees affected by the relocation plan have now responded with their decisions, and approximately four of every ten have agreed to make the move to either New York or the Bay Area, in keeping with our original expectations.

A transition task force of key executives has been formed to ensure the smoothest process possible, and continuous information and resources will be available to all employees. The rest of Nintendo's strong leadership talent will continue to drive our business objectives forward. It has always been the case that Nintendo employees are resilient and rise to any challenge, and there is no doubt in my mind that we will excel as we continue to tackle new challenges and business opportunities.

Nintendo itself can not discuss the relocation status of any individual involved, but for those who will be departing the company, we have every expectation that they will succeed to the highest degree in their future endeavors. We will miss the talent, energy and experience from those who have chosen not to relocate. Our sales and marketing teams have been key components in returning Nintendo to its current position of market leadership.

Reggie Fils-Aime
President, Nintendo of America
9 comments | go to source (kotaku.com) | Add to favorites! favourite this article | send to friend
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  • 0 thumbs!
    TwilightPrince | June 08, 2007
    This has already been posted here.
    • 0 thumbs!
      Wolfwood | June 08, 2007
      Ah, but now we can finalize the details to 60% instead of 90%!!! Plus we also have Reggie!!! But I really ought to have linked to that news article in the first place. Let me do that now!
      • 0 thumbs!
        TwilightPrince | June 08, 2007
        That's true. We've finally heard the final word from Reggie now.

        Also, thanks for linking to the previous article.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Tom | June 08, 2007
    Ouch, I feel sorry for those staff. That could seriously damage Nintendo, but not that I care about that. It's the people I'm rooting for in this one.
    • 0 thumbs!
      TwilightPrince | June 09, 2007
      Like I said in the other news post, Kaplan, Harrison, and Llewelyn have nothing to do with "Nintendo games" in particular. They are not developers in any way. They're just involved with the sales and marketing staff, which handles the media and whatnot.

      This in no way affects any games in development by Nintendo.
  • 0 thumbs!
    spirepwns | June 09, 2007
    I agree with Catfire. Family and friends should be more important than a business. But I don't understand why they would relocate the sales department? Would their revenue increase or something?
  • 0 thumbs!
    Dragon | June 09, 2007
    60 percent? That's a pretty big chunk of the staff. I wonder how Nintendo will still make out.
  • 0 thumbs!
    gotenks992 | June 09, 2007
    Nintendo will find a way to bounce back from the loss. They always do. But 60 percent is a big loss. At least for the NOA team.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Final Blade | June 09, 2007
    Since this has nothing to do with the games just the magazines. How will nintendo suffer for this.

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