As you might have heard over the past few weeks, Nintendo of America has come under fire for its alleged treatment of part-time and contract workers. NoA actually issued a response to one of these complaints, noting how the video game giant was "fully committed" to providing a welcoming and supportive environment for both employees and contractors, and mentioning how it took matters of employment very seriously.
Despite this, there is reportedly growing discontent behind the scenes, and now the former Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aimé, has shared his own thoughts about the supposed union issues during an interview with The Washington Post. He says it's not the company he knew, and it wasn't the Nintendo he left.
Here's the full rundown (via Nintendo Everything):
“I did read that story. And again, at this point I’m three years removed from being president of Nintendo of America. It’s been awhile. As a I read the stories and I read the reports, it struck me that this isn’t the Nintendo That I left. And what I mean by that is while I was at Nintendo, we routinely had meetings and events where our associates – that’s how we referred to our contract employees – were invited. Just as a small example, I was famous for doing bimonthly and quarterly lunches with employees – it was a basic sign up. And associates were invited to sign up for this as much as full-time employees. We didn’t make a distinction. The reports I hear really strike me as just not the company I knew. I’ll just leave it at that.
"A core focus while I was at Nintendo of America was having a healthy culture within the company, and I know I was able to achieve that. And certainly what’s being described does not seem like a healthy culture.”
As mentioned by Reggie, he's now been away from the company for more than three years. When he was running the show though - he was known for hosting lunches with associates and employees and strived to maintain a "healthy culture". This is a stark contrast to some of the reports currently surfacing online.
You can read more about all of this in our previous stories:
- Nintendo Of America Named In Workers' Rights Complaint
- Nintendo Responds To Workers' Rights Complaint
- Nintendo Of America Criticised Over Treatment Of Part-Time And Contract Workers
As this is a sensitive topic, please keep our Community Rules in mind when discussing it below.
[source youtu.be, via nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 69
My union is ready
Now correct me if I'm wrong but did Reggie Fils-Aimé choose Doug Bowser as his successor after he retired as President of Nintendo Of America? Because if he did I would like to think anything that's happening now within the company under Doug Bowser would affect him in some way right?? Because in the nicest way possible he sounds less then thrilled about these reports like many of us are.
Begun, the Union War has.
It's Bowser's fault.
@SpiritOfTheHero I doubt he handpicked Bowser but he may have recommended him. I doubt there would be any consequences but if he did recommend him that would make Reggie look bad.
Nintendo is a Japanese company and Japanese companies are much more sensitive to public perception so I imagine the situation will get resolved.
I think it's still too early to judge (or assume) anything. It could have been just an unfortunate circumstance. But if leadership is really at fault then it will come to light soon enough.
This is probably gonna be an unpopular opinion, but I for one am kinda getting tired of hearing about Reggie. I feel like there's basically an article with his name on it everyday. I love the guy, but he's been gone from Nintendo for 3 years now...
Well, what did we expect with a guy named Bowser?
Nintendo becoming a meanie..
Kit and Krysta touched on it, as well. They admitted they only knew about the SF office, but apparently things weren't bad there. That's one closed office, though. Whatever is the driving force behind the alleged change Reggie is alluding to needs to reverse course because the Kotaku and IGN reports are bad.
I've had a nagging feeling that the company I loved during the 3DS and Wii U doesn't exist anymore. And reading the attached IGN article, that certainly seems to be the case.
IGN's article stated that there began to be issues with how Nintendo handled contractors in 2015, 5 years before Reggie left Nintendo...
@PikaPhantom Nintendo, or Nintendo Of America?
@RainbowGazelle The IGN article really is a grim read. Telling someone they have ‘attendance issues’ after travelling home due to their sister passing away is subhuman. Loads of these tech companies are corporate nightmares but there’s some real damning accounts coming out about Nintendo.
Does this have an impact on the release date of BOTW2 or Metroid Prime 4?
@NintendoHistory Gone from Nintendo but he's a major figure of the company. I'm sure if Miyamoto left/retired we'd still want to hear things from/about him.
Remember when people used to actually just do their jobs without complaining? Simpler times I tell ya.
Yeah choosing Bowser as his successor perhaps was a mistake, Bowser wasn't really an active public figure like him and Iwata. Hopefully this doesn't evolve into a toxic corporation like Konami, Sega, and Activision.
I think Reggie could be right in some ways. However I still wish the Switch emence success.
@Specter_of-the_OLED yes, he wasn’t a public figure. Like Reggie or Iwata. However if he’s doing the right thing for the company, then he needs to stay. If he has other priorities, then he needs to resign.
Whether these reports are true, not, or exaggerated, an unavoidable reality is that no country, or culture is perfect, and that includes different countries" work sub-cultures. Different work cultures have their strengths, and weaknesses, compared to others.
Nintendo Of America is a mostly dependent branch of, and on its Japanese parent co. Because of this, it operates differently than a typical American co.
I wouldn't be surprised if some, or all of these are cases of miscommunication that ended up as one side expecting one thing, thinking one thing had been agreed/settled on, and the other side of a different understanding, doing something they also thought was agreed, and acceptable.
Plus, many co.s in America, and around the world have not yet gotten out of their Covid-19 mode of operations, where in the world it is appropriate.
This will be interesting to continue following.
Where’s Mario when you need him?
@ClamDown Making movies with Sonic in Studiopolis Zone.
@SteamEngenius Thinking like that is how swathes of society end up disenfranchised and stuck in a cycle of poverty. Without people standing up for your basic rights and ‘complaining’, you wouldn’t have the vote, a minimum wage, bodily autonomy, maternity leave etc. People that ‘just do their jobs without complaining’ are either robots or slaves, it’s a ludicrous, crass statement to make. The real irony is you using a profile picture encompassing characters who represent disenchantment with the very system that you’re championing.
@nessisonett
Yep.
But coming from such a "robotic slave" Position being now on a pretty nice one i have learned,
not every Complaint is a real one.
My advice:
Collect Data to show it!
It just backs you up and you do not go under with other Complaints that are just loudy People without a true Evidence.
As an Example:
Other Departments often complained that more Failures are occuring.
I checked that and it wasn't just true.
We just had 20% more Output compared to the last Year and the Error Quote was 0.6%.
So the Person had the Feeling of having more Errors, but i the Truth was they were just having overall more Work.
Not speaking of that some of the Failures were selfmade by them
Another Personal Example would be someone complaining that he didn't get a higher Loan, even bringing in Racism.
The Thing was, he never helped others out, was disturbing other while working and he felt 40 Workdays(!).
Another one was bringing in documented Facts, said what he wanted and needed.
He got his Stuff, because he was right (being the same Nationality as the former one).
So if someone is complaining, take the Person serious but not only by crying out loud.
Give them Time and let them collect their Facts, if needed, help them by leading them how to.
This alone will separate much and afterwards show what you have to worry about AND where to start to change Processes to overcome those Problems.
Interesting it doesn’t seem to be workers complaining, just the contractors.
My immediate assumption based on this is either:
A. This reflects badly on Doug Bowser as a person
B. This reflects badly on Doug Bowser's ability to keep track of everything happening
C. A person or people below the president have been making bad decisions and has successfully hid it for a while now
Right now I'm leaning far more towards a combination of B and C, for the record
No ***** it's not the Nintendo you left. It's actually a business not something to joke around by making meaningless memes.
People are spending too much time on their phones and thus get burnt out by everything else happening in their lives. This is an issue that no one addresses because it‘s become a part of our everyday lives. I‘m at work and using my phone at this moment. So my focus is not shifted towards the things I could do for the company but towards the things that I want to do for myself. As a consequence everything else around me is distracting me and stresses me out.
How are we going to solve this issue?
@NintendoHistory His name has been trending because of his book, so it's no wonder we're seeing his name everywhere now. It'll blow over, just like everything else, I believe.
Back on topic: I really think this whole union story has been blown out of proportion in some sort of weak attempt to make Nintendo look bad, where they seem to have had good reason to get rid of someone who was leaking information. At least from what I gathered.
Nintendo have changed. The customer service 8n Europe is very, very bad. Their customer service number, the staff used to be extremely friendly and helpful, how you would imagine Nintendo. Now they are often rude and extremely unhelpful. From when I worked in a customer service centre prior to going to university, this is a good indication of very bad working conditions. It is such a shame that a company making record profits would treat staff and customers in such a way.
@NintendoHistory heresy
Always the same, once he has left it the old "This would have never happened on my watch", when in reality he would have had little control over it.
@SteamEngenius
Dude. Come on.
There’s a difference between work moaning and the reports coming out of NOA.
Every worker in the world, no matter their job, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
I’m a “filthy” American (our companies are pretty notorious for not respecting their workers and the American people tend to put their heads in the sand about it) and even I understand that what has been alleged, if it is proven to be true, is unacceptable.
@NintendoHistory People have been saying this about Sakurai lately, too. I couldn't disagree more, though. These people are my equivalent of the Kardashians--I always want to keep up with them.
@moodycat Reggie wasn't even around for Ocarina of Time; he wasn't brought in until 2004. I think Nintendo changed a lot in the early 2000's, especially under Iwata's leadership. I remember reading an article on here a while back about how when Nintendo heard about the crunch going on at Retro Studios during the development of Metroid Prime, they were quick to intervene.
@Royalblues I genuinely don't mean this with offense, but if you feel so strongly about this, why frequent a Nintendo fan site? Also--can you cite sources for your claims of workplace sexism? This is the first I've ever heard of it where Nintendo is concerned.
@SpiritOfTheHero Generally it's a board decision, it's kind of rare that the head of a company will directly choose their successor
And I thought the other chatrooms were depressing jeez you guys you make it tough to support the disenfranchised workers. Its either "I miss the 50's" or the unbridled cynicism that only Rick and Morty fans can offer. Yeah, Nintendo's probably in the wrong. Yeah, companies aren't your friend. And of course, workers should be treated with nothing but respect. These should be givens. Anything that goes into helping others should be givens. But right now, it's too early to be making any extreme calls. We're fighting over nothing, we're all in the SAME FANBASE. Haven't we had enough yet? Haven't we tired ourselves out? Because that's what's happening here. We fight amongst ourselves and then we forget. What we need is a unified voice that yells "NO" to these practices. Not cynical comments that make people lose hope, not anti-worker/stab-myself-in-the-foot comments, but a way that encourages people to fight back. I know this is long, and i know this is rambly. I see it just as much as you do. But we can at least all agree that what's happening right now is no way for us to be as a community. Basically, try to spread hope. be positive, even in situations where its easier to be cynical and hateful (both on and offline). Wouldn't be great to play games without thinking "this game is great, sucks it was made by an oppressive corporation"? At least that's what I think. Maybe it's weird or cringe, but im gonna try not to let it get in my head too much. Anyways, have a wonderful day (or night)
Hot off the presses...employees complain about employer!
shock
That's amusing. Some of the complaints came during the launch of the 3DS, when Nintendo was taking a dive and NoA were pushing for people to leave or retire. That happened under Reggie's reign. Compare that to the head office in Japan where Iwata and the board took cuts so no one had to lose their jobs.
So if Reggie believes that this didn't happen under him, maybe it's a bad manager(s) that are still around.
Some of the complaints just seem like standard contractor office politics. I mean, as a contractor myself who only gets renewed every 3-6 months, and have to prove I am worth keeping on every time my contract is up. And only find out if I still have work about 2 weeks before the contract ends. I also don't enjoy a lot of the privileges of permanent staff and also had a manager question me on taking my entitled breaks. But I did find out due the amount of sick leave taken due to covid spreading through the site, the company is planning on making permanent staff redundant and then offering to rehire them under contracts so they no longer have to pay sick leave. Not dismissing the issues of NoA, but a lot of companies have major issues that are a lot worse than what I have seen brought up against NoA. But hopefully this attebtion will bring about a fairer workplace.
@NintendoHistory
Reggie just recently published a memoir detailing his life, career, and business mindsets, so he has been going on promotional tours and doing interviews. Expect to hear more about him in the coming days and weeks.
@nessisonett Yeah, it's actually quite surprising. I'd be intrigued to know if things are similar at Nintendo HQs in Japan and Europe, or if it's mainly an NoA problem.
@moodycat To be fair, in the IGN article, the employees did admit that throughout the majority of Reggie's tenure, everything was fine and dandy, and they weren't treated like second class citizens. The shift began after the death of Iwata and Reggie's departure. If you want to make sure you can give the article a read.
@moodycat
I could be wrong, it's hard to say. But Reggie only left a few years after Iwata's passing, and I do believe Iwata drastically changed the company culture that was seemingly pretty toxic under Yamauchi. As we all know, Nintendo became more corporate and less consumer-friendly following Iwata's death, so it stands to reason their treatment of employees would have reverted, as well.
It's also worth noting this isn't the first issue Reggie has publicly voiced his opinion about; when he denounced Activision Blizzard for their treatment of female employees, for example, I don't think that was somehow indicative of him tolerating workplace harassment at Nintendo. He was also vocal about Blizzard's Hong Kong controversy back when we thought it was the worst scandal in that company.
Could he be a hypocrite? Sure. But I don't think it's necessarily fair to judge him simply because he is taking a stand. I'm sure people would take issue with him not saying anything and say he's trying to distance himself from it or sweep it under the rug. Even in retirement Reggie is still a very influential figure in the gaming sphere. Whether or not he could have done more while he was still at Nintendo, I think he still has the opportunity to make a difference now by calling it out.
@Abeedo Thanks for sharing! I haven't read the article in full myself, but this goes along with what I was saying in my above comment. @moodycat is certainly right that this is an imperfect world and Nintendo is no exception, so I'm sure there have been several cases of mismanagement over the years. Kit and Krysta discussed some of these industry-wide problems in their recent podcast, and I think it's well worth the listen--it's very interesting insider stuff. But especially under the former leadership, I don't think it was anywhere near as egregious as a lot of other companies out there.
@NintendoHistory trust me that is not an unpopular opinion and judging by the likes you have, i doubt I'm the only one who thinks this.
This guy has literally nothing to do with Nintendo at all anymore.
epic corporate gaslighting moment 😎😎😎
@johnvboy Kit and Krysta seemed pretty open about the marketing side of things. But, to your point, he may be lying. Who would admit to creating or upholding this alleged culture?
Apparently the complaints go back to 2015 which is under Reggie’s watch. According to an article in kotaku contracters were kept on contract for 10 years or more without getting made permanent. Reggie you’ve only been gone 3 years. The article if true is hard to read, and disgusting treatment of staff. Whilst ex-employee Reggie has responded Nintendo has not and their silence is damning.
Nintendo is keyser soze xxx
Hmmm, it’s almost as if he has a new book and public speaking gigs that might be affected by reports of his leadership being potentially rubbish. Sorry, Reggie, you were a good meme, but I’m doubtful this culture in your company just happened to spring up after you left.
@NintendoHistory
He just published a book and is doing a book tour. It’s not surprising he’s in the news right now. He also did a show that airs weekly for the next couple of weeks.
Nintendo are really being exposed as a very scummy company more than just overpricing their products
@Yorumi What do you mean? He's clearly spending all his time playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf on his Nintendo 3ds, and dropping off the battle bus to meet some of us on the battlefield in Fortnite.
@SteamEngenius People complaining about their jobs is as old as jobs themselves. There has literally never been a time or place in human history where that wasnt a thing. It's a "Hah, relatable" constant brought up in everything from ancient Chinese anecdotes to the Canterbury Tales. And why would that be the fake idealized past you wax nostalgic about, anyway? "People just letting themselves be mistreated by their bosses, and never hoping for things to improve...why can't we go back to those halcyon days?"
Guess he was to busy, “kicking ass and taking names,” to see what was really going on. 🙄
@GsPandem Nintendo of America
This is systemic to modern corporate culture. It may be "less bad" at Nintendo but it's naive to think they'd be insulated from it.
@IronMan30,
So true.
Where did Reggie mention the word "union"? Also, ironic that The Washington Post asks about poor treatment of employees, considering their affliation with Amazon.
@NintendoHistory I completely agree. Reggie was just a peon for Nintendo. He can try and claim whatever but in reality he made no decisions and everything came from Japan. Yea he was a good guy and I stress the was because he has now show. How he really is and it sure isn’t the same person he tried to play off to be. He in my eyes is nothing but another person seeking fame and fortune and will say whatever to get it.
@Royalblues
So you are saying that there is sexism, but you also say that the only proof is the fact they are a company and that means they are sexist?
The company did not go from a welcoming respectful healthy culture and workplace to what's described in the IGN report in three years. Reggie is protecting his brand, he's not being candid about his time at Nintendo and its ludicrous to frame these statements as some anything but an ex-executive looking out for book sales and his legacy.
@Royalblues
That’s fair. And if any complaints or evidence comes out than you may be right. But right now, you are just saying Nintendo is sexist because it is a company.
Reggie is on a reputation self-destruction speedrun right now.
First he wants to monetize animal crossing islands.
Now this obvious CYA BS.
Say it with me - RICH PEOPLE ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND. RICH PEOPLE ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND. RICH PEOPLE ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND. NONE OF THEM. EVER. NONE OF THEM. EVER.
Interesting. I'm going to withhold an opinion until more facts come out.
Interesting... The articles published lately about the awful working conditions for part-time or temp workers, referenced people that have been stuck in this "worker cycle" without getting proper credit for their work compared with Nintendo employees nor getting better opportunities to advance in the company, for 5+ years. I guess that company he did knew.
Just as a consumer and fan it's been obvious for years that Nintendo is not the Nintendo it was during the Reggie/Iwata/Miyamoto years. Under Furukawa/Bowser/Investor-focus it's, even as a consumer, felt like it's just another corporation like EA, Ubisoft, Sony, or perhaps the 80's Nintendo under Yamauchi.
These reports from employees, and Reggie commenting kind of briskly that this doesn't sound like the same company and cutting it off with that allusion, kind of confirms what we could easily perceive ourselves.
It's depressing that Nintendo under Furukawa/Bowser, and Playstation under Jim Ryan are both going the corporatist investors-first, short term margin maximization route you'd expect from any large American corporation. These companies used to operate in a different realm. Let alone what's become of Square-Enix, but that's not new management.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...