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Nintendo to Close European Office, Lay Off 130 Employees

Nintendo announced on Friday that it will close its European office in Großostheim, Germany and lay off 130 of European headquarters' employees. The company's European operations will move to the Frankfurt, Germany office while the former building and warehouse will be sold.

"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," a Nintendo of Europe representative said. "The measures include the consolidation of the current European headquarters in Großostheim (Germany) to Frankfurt (Germany), the closure of the warehouse and office in Großostheim, as well as outsourcing and reorganising some functions. 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."

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata took a 50 percent paycut from February to June while other members of the board took between 20 to 30 percent cuts this year a result recent drops in fiscal projections for the quarter.

The company's Wii U console has sold under expectations since its launch.

Thanks to Daniel Zelter for the news tip

Source: Eurogamer via Gamespot