Nintendo of America is laying off 86 contract workers in Redmond from tech staffing and consulting firm TEKsystems.
The layoffs, disclosed in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed Tuesday with the state of Washington, will begin May 25. In an emailed statement through a spokesperson, Nintendo of America said it has reorganized its product testing.
"These changes will involve some contractor assignments ending, as well as the creation of a significant number of new full-time employee positions," the gaming company said in the statement. "For those contractor associates who will be leaving us, we are tremendously grateful for the important contributions they’ve made to our business, and we extend our heartfelt thanks for their hard work and service to Nintendo."
The spokesperson added that laid-off contractors will receive severance and other support.
Gaming site Kotaku noted the layoffs come ahead of the launch of Nintendo's highly anticipated successor to its Switch console, now said to be coming in 2025 after delays.
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Redmond-based Nintendo of America is a subsidiary of the Japanese company Nintendo Co. Ltd. Its gaming franchises include Super Mario, Pokemon and The Legend of Zelda.
TEKsystems, meanwhile, is headquartered in Hanover, Maryland. The company helps clients with cloud services, data analytics, brand strategy and experience design. TEKsystems has worked locally with Keller Williams, Rover and Remitly. The company has offices in Seattle and Bellevue.
TEKsystems is a subsidiary of the 41-year-old staffing company Allegis Group, which is also based in Hanover. According to Allegis Group's LinkedIn page, the company has more than 500 locations.
Nintendo joins the ranks of multiple local gaming companies that have laid off employees recently, including Bellevue-based Bungie and Bellevue-based Hidden Path Entertainment. Amazon, meanwhile, conducted two rounds of layoffs to its gaming division last year, including more than 180 employees in November. Seattle-based Threshold Games shut down completely in February.
