Nintendo Closing European HQ

Doom and Gloom?

Nintendo will close its European headquarters located in Großostheim, Germany, resulting in several redundancies in its workforce. The Wii U and 3DS manufacturer will cut 130 jobs in the process at various European locations and will consolidate its German HQ to Frankfurt.

"Nintendo of Europe has entered into a consultation process on a number of changes it is intending to make to its European business which, in the long term, will better enable the European business to adapt to the rapidly changing business environment," Nintendo said in a statement to Games Industry International. The company posted a $229 million net loss last month in its financial results for the year (ending March 31, 2014). It shipped 6.17 million Wii U systems total as of then, well off its original projection of 9 million.

"These intended measures have not been made lightly and have only been arrived at after thorough analysis and careful consideration," the company continued. "The intended measures will sadly have a direct effect on some of the employees based in the Großostheim and Frankfurt offices in Germany and would lead to the release of approximately 130 permanent employees."

Slightly misleading. They have not closed down their HQs, they closed down one of their two major campuses in Europe, and are consolidating all their European operations to one premises within Germany. This is part of the restructuring operations that Iwata stated would occur back in March. No doom and gloom, just standard restructuring. Nintendo of America went through the same thing in 2007 as well.

Hopefully those 130 people who lost their jobs can get back on their feet again soon, though.

Nintendo is doomed

DC.

I guess when you have a shit product nobody wants, downsizing is the only alternative.

Nintenwho?

At least they don't have to resort to selling buildings to offset their losses.

Didn't know Nintendo made the Vita?

Not misleading at all.

Nintendo will close its European Headquarters

I said it's slightly misleading, which it is. Your title seems to at least slightly imply that Nintendo is closing down its European operations, while they are only closing down one of two campuses. It's just a matter of minor semantics, and I didn't say you were wrong at all, I just decided to clarify what was actually going on with my own post.

No, it's closing it's european headquarters. Like the title and OP says

No Animal, they are just moving premises to Frankfurt. Like you said, their present premises that also served as their HQ is being closed, but that does not indicate a shutdown of European operations, it just indicates their restructuring. As I have clarified for you twice now, this being the third time.

Oh Nintendo is dooomed, and all WiiU's fault

This

But I thought Nintendo was a company that really cared for its employees.....they never lay anyone off!

*rolls eyes*

Maybe some people will now come to realize that such moves are needed in business and that not insisting on doing so is....gee, well, a *nice* gesture, but nice doesn't immediately equate to getting business done and can overall be a bad choice in the long-term. I'm never happy to see anyone lose their jobs, but if this ultimately helps Nintendo return to the black then I'm very glad to see this step being taken. Nintendo's a business, and perhaps now so many can stop pretending that they are some ultimate altruistic entity that always does right because it pulls at our heartstrings instead of our sensibilities. This cult of Nintendo needs to die, and fast.

Maybe a change really is happening--this is hopeful to see.

Lol at anyone saying they're going down. They have so much cash reserves it's crazy.

Doesn't change the fact that Nintendo is lead by a bunch of fools though.

You could say that its the beginning of the end!! SDC BABY!!

Yes , thats why they let Wii to die so fast when the guys that were selling their buildings supported their system with exclusives even in next-gen... Dont even dare to compare those 2 as of who does more for the customer because when your Wii was a dust collector while it was so ahead of everyone else then all of sudden died... Pff lame ! You sheeps never learn.... Wii U time is coming soon just wait a year or 2.

This is the beginning of the end for Nintendo.Goodbye Nintendo.Nintendo is doomed.

I seriously hope that you guys who think Nintendo is doomed are trolling. lol

Poor Sony.

wow we are literally witnessing the end of nintendo, how the mighty have fallen.

lol No!

This news story is very much in line with the ALL XBOX ONES ARE SHUTTING DOWN story.

they have a HQ in germany?

they should have sold the mariners instead :P

Nintendo may not be doing good right now..................just not as bad a Sony.

Things will look up for Nintendo if the deal with MS is real. Probably just some crazy rumor though and they will suffer.

Deal with MS? Lol no, Nintendo would sooner fall on their own sword than do a deal with MS.

Pfft *falls off chair*. Are you serious? A "deal with MS"? Why the hell would Nintendo want to work with them? MS tried to buy Nintendo before and it failed.

Besides that, I'm sure all MS would want out of Nintendo is Donkey Kong because of one word: Rare.

More like relocating their HQ. Did you even read this part? They are moving their HQ to Franfurt, Germany. They aren't closing their HQ.

The Wii U and 3DS manufacturer will cut 130 jobs in the process at various European locations and will consolidate its German HQ to Frankfurt.

When faced with a life threatening survival situation, you do what you have to.

I am not saying to buy them. Just heard some rumblings of some agreement. Like I said though, probably false. Just imagine the possibilities though.

LMAO!! No. That's like saying we are seeing the end of Apple or IBM. Nintendo literally has enough money to launch another 5-6 more game consoles. They could easily create a new game console that is more powerful then the PS4 & XB1, and 100% B/C with the Wii U and launch it in another year or two if they wanted to. I don't think they are going anywhere anyime soon. The Wii U might be discontinued in another year or so though. This isn't SEGA or Ouya we're talking about here.

I don't think buy them, but maybe get some of their key titles on the XB1 and visa-versa. A Perfect Dark Zero 2 on XB1/Wii U and a Zelda on XB1/Wii U would be interesting. I don't know. There are some rumors spreading though. We'll see in a couple days.

Buying them or not, they still wouldn't work with them and their failure to buy them is evidence of that much like Nintendo blowing Sony off at CES '91 (but less controversial due to less media coverage).

Then i wish you and your console the best!

But, like I said, they'd never do it and MS failing to buy them before is evidence of that. If they did, MS would only want ONE IP out of it.

They wouldn't be doing this in "peacetime". Obviously things aren't going the way they want and they are downscaling.

They have their handheld systems to fall back on, which is pretty huge. They could easily go mobile (phone & Tablets) as well with any of their games. They still have billions in the bank, where as Sony continues to lose billions every year. I think they will be fine.

Well, we'll find out on Monday. The Past is not the same as the Future.

that sucks balls

Best bet for nintendo? Make amazing games for the Playstation.

Time to team up wiih Sony Yoshi

Like Chaz said, this is a part of a restructuring, which is something Nintendo needs. It still sucks for those who lost their jobs though.

Nope. Neither Sony or MS are ideal partners for Nintendo in no way shape or form, as history has shown.

They're doomed

Well actually restructuring to the point of cutting 130 people.. Is a clear enough sign that things aren't exactly A-OKAY.

Time are changing, my friend. Development on tripleA hardware these days require expansion, not desolation.