Nintendo on Friday announced that it is shutting down its headquarters located at Großostheim, Germany, thereby laying off as many as 130 employees.
The Japanese gaming company has shifted their European headquarters to the Frankfurt office. Nintendo further announced that it is going to sell off its Großostheim building and warehouse and is also considering a number of changes to improve its European business.
Nintendo said in an official statement, “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.”
“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 re-organising some functions.”
“These intended measures have not been made lightly and have only been arrived at after thorough analysis and careful consideration. 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.”
The company also said it will soon go through a fair consultation process with the local Works Council in Germany to provide clarity and support for all affected employees as soon as possible.
The news comes in time when the struggling console maker, last month posted a third consecutive year loss of £135million. The company also predicted sales of its flagship Wii U console to be just around 3.6 million for the 2014-15 financial year.
