Nintendo of Korea has laid off nearly 80% of the its 60 member team and has plans to relocate sometime soon according to the Korean website INVEN.
The state of Korea’s gaming market is heavily favored towards mobile and online gaming services such as Starcraft, League of Legends and many MMOs. With Nintendo’s aversion to online game support and just recently getting into mobile games, they decided to make a large cut at their Korean studio. 80% of the Korean subsidiary’s employees have been laid off as a part of a large-scale restructure.
The major cuts will leave the current team with only ten employees. While the division’s current CEO, Fukuda Hiroyuki, will remain in his position, the company’s current Seoul office will be relocated to somewhere outside of the capital.
The South Korean branch of Nintendo was established in 2006 and has been suffering financial losses over the past four years. In 2011, the Korean division recorded a loss of nearly 29 billion South Korean Won (roughly $25 million USD) and 25.7 billion South Korean Won (roughly $22 million USD) in 2012. The company would also report smaller deficits in 2013 and 2014, but not to the scale of 2011 and 2012.
Nintendo fans in the region will have a lot to forward to, despite the team’s recent financial shortcomings. Games such as Hyrule Warriors: Legends, Fire Emblem: Fates, and Pokémon Sun and Moon are still scheduled for release this year.
At the moment, Nintendo has not made any official statements about the future of Nintendo of Korea.
Source: INVEN, Nintendoinquirer, Hardcoregamer
