News has just hit that Nintendo of Korea has downsides its workforce in a significant way, reducing from 50 employees down to only 10 through an “early retirement” program. The change comes as part of a “large-scale restructuring” where the Korean branch of Nintendo will be relocating to a new office outside of the city of Seoul.
Although it is never good news to hear about lost jobs, it perhaps should not come as a surprise for a branch of the company that has posted losses—and significant ones, at that—for the past four years. The branch was established in 2006, with prior Nintendo game and console sales being handled by a local distributor.
Despite this, Fukuda Hiroyuki will remain on board as CEO, though the company branch will shift to being a distributor rather than a subsidiary.
Nintendo of Korea will still be releasing games in 2016, with many titles that are highly anticipated elsewhere such as Kirby: Planet Robobot and Fire Emblem Fates. It’s also worth noting that Nintendo of Korea has not released the Wii U, which may have contributed to sales decline.
