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News Nintendo of America restructuring testing center, could impact over 100 contractors

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Added Big Shakeup At Nintendo Testing Center Ahead Of Switch 2 Nintendo of America lays off some contractors while converting others to full-time employees
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    nintendoeverything.com

    Nintendo of America restructuring testing center, could impact over 100 contractors

    According to a Kotaku report, Nintendo of America is restructuring its testing center. Some new full-time employee positions will be created, but a number of contractors are being let go – including testers with over ten years of experience. The gaming industry as a whole has seen a high number...
    nintendoeverything.com nintendoeverything.com


    kotaku.com

    Big Shakeup At Nintendo Testing Center Ahead Of Switch 2

    Nintendo of America lays off some contractors while converting others to full-time employees
    kotaku.com kotaku.com
     
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    “These changes will involve some contractor assignments ending, as well as the creation of a significant number of new full-time employee positions,” a spokesperson for Nintendo told Kotaku in an email. Contractors at Nintendo of America who feel undervalued and underpaid have long called on the company to make them full-time “red badge” employees instead of exploiting loopholes in seasonal work requirements. While some of them are now finally getting converted to direct hires, others, including testers with over 10 years of experience, are getting the boot, though Nintendo says everyone impacted will receive severance packages.
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    The shift also comes during a recent “lull” in Nintendo of America’s testing department, three contractors told Kotaku. They said there had been no new major first-party games in the testing pipeline, and none of them were aware of anyone having hands-on time with the upcoming Switch 2, despite previous hopes that it would arrive as early as the second half of 2024. They also weren’t sure how Nintendo of America could continue to test massive games like last year’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which was praised for its technical performance and lack of bugs, with the new cuts. Nintendo declined to comment on the status of its testing pipeline.
    Click to expand...
     
    It seems like a mix of good and bad here. Some contractors are being let go, while others are being turned to full time employees.

    It sucks that anyone's being let go, but hopefully this is the end of this carrot on a stick practice with this area downsizing.
     
    After reading f through the article 3 times, its seems like most of these game tester are sadly not getting renewed, meanwhile the other half will become full fledge employees. Not the usual layoff of randomly firing people.

    And with the switch 2 on the horizon, there’s no real value of renewing contractors as of right now. Maybe the full fledge employees will be the main team of game testers, instead of the contractors.

    Hopefully all those employees will be able to get different contracts from different company, since game tester are sadly seen as lesser value in the game industry, despite them being one of the most important aspect of the industry.

    There’s also a possibility of me reading wrong since English isn’t my main language.
     
    I wonder if they're doing more testing in Japan rather than America, especially ahead of Switch 2, and just doing smaller amounts of testing/focusing more on localization in the US but yeah...

    obviously it's never something you want to see, but these are seemingly largely casual contractors if i'm reading right, so severance packages for all regardless and employees being moved to full time out of contract work, even into a downsized, more full time testing team is better than what we've seen happening with entire dev studios being shut down/10% of all staff being fired
     
    aus89 said:
    I wonder if they're doing more testing in Japan rather than America, especially ahead of Switch 2, and just doing smaller amounts of testing/focusing more on localization in the US but yeah...

    obviously it's never something you want to see, but these are seemingly largely casual contractors if i'm reading right, so severance packages for all regardless and employees being moved to full time out of contract work, even into a downsized, more full time testing team is better than what we've seen happening with entire dev studios being shut down/10% of all staff being fired
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    It’s 50/50 since those who’ll become full time employees will get benefits and most likely revamp the game testing in America and becoming the Main A team for the switch 2, meanwhile the other half are contractors who sadly didn’t get renewed, since there’s no need to.
     
    TomNookYankees said:
    Also means that either Metroid Prime 4 is finished bug testing or (more likely) not even close to ready.
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    Retro have their own team of game testers, since they’re always asking for them in their websites. So most likely they have their own team of testers, compare to Nintendo of America with testing Japanese developed games, like totk and Mario wonder.
     
    I've dealt with being a "contractor" (in academia) and you aren't "laid off", the contract simply ends "non-renewal", there are also some benefit differences. In the end terminology doesn't make the situation better, but that is sadly the reality of contract work. Good that some are becoming full time employees.
     
    Steve said:
    It’s 50/50 since those who’ll become full time employees will get benefits and most likely revamp the game testing in America and becoming the Main A team for the switch 2, meanwhile the other half are contractors who sadly didn’t get renewed, since there’s no need to.
    Click to expand...
    yeah that's what it feels like to me - shifting to a smaller, full time testing team (as opposed to a bigger casual workforce) so there are pros and cons and obviously hard for those whose contracts weren't renewed or terminated with severance pay potentially, given the current shitshow that is the gaming (and honestly any media/entertainment) industry
     
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    It seems like it's just contracts ending or being converted into full time jobs. This is also with severance packages and further assistance. This sucks and my heart goes out to the 100-odd contractors who lost their current position without the opportunity to renew, but it isn't in-line with the other dreadful layoffs throughout the majority of the past few years, this just comes par for the course with contract work. My breadwinner parent is a contractor and pretty much had to deal with this for the majority of their life until they got a full-time job recently.

    Now, for analysis. Nintendo... I dunno... you've been acting sus lately. I think the testing stages for Switch 2 games will start soon after this major shift, but it's so odd that there was no major titles in testing for a while. This doesn't mean that Retro Studios hasn't been doing internal testing for Prime 4 (idk, i'm not an expert here), but that pretty much means that the Switch lifecycle is approaching the end. It's been a fun run fellas. Lots to look forward to though, this news does signal the oncoming sprint to the finish of this system.
     
    This is not a layoff. As a contractor worker myself, this is just not renewing their contract. They are still employed, but not working for that account.
     
    SoldierDelta said:
    It seems like it's just contracts ending or being converted into full time jobs. This is also with severance packages and further assistance. This sucks and my heart goes out to the 100-odd contractors who lost their current position without the opportunity to renew, but it isn't in-line with the other dreadful layoffs throughout the majority of the past few years, this just comes par for the course with contract work. My breadwinner parent is a contractor and pretty much had to deal with this for the majority of their life until they got a full-time job recently.

    Now, for analysis. Nintendo... I dunno... you've been acting sus lately. I think the testing stages for Switch 2 games will start soon after this major shift, but it's so odd that there was no major titles in testing for a while. This doesn't mean that Retro Studios hasn't been doing internal testing for Prime 4 (idk, i'm not an expert here), but that pretty much means that the Switch lifecycle is approaching the end. It's been a fun run fellas. Lots to look forward to though, this news does signal the oncoming sprint to the finish of this system.
    Click to expand...
    Same thing for my parents when they were younger and especially my cousins, especially in the hospitality industry. And it’ll always saddens me seeing game testers seen as lesser value, despite being one of the most important aspect of developing games.

    The positive is full time employment, meanwhile the negative is those who haven’t had their contracts renewed will be let go. Hopefully they find their standing and get different contracts or full time employment somewhere else.
     
    This suck. At least this is not those "firing for firing" sake to boost the stock and just normal restructuring to turn some to full-time while cutting some position.
     
    SoldierDelta said:
    Now, for analysis. Nintendo... I dunno... you've been acting sus lately. I think the testing stages for Switch 2 games will start soon after this major shift, but it's so odd that there was no major titles in testing for a while. This doesn't mean that Retro Studios hasn't been doing internal testing for Prime 4 (idk, i'm not an expert here), but that pretty much means that the Switch lifecycle is approaching the end. It's been a fun run fellas. Lots to look forward to though, this news does signal the oncoming sprint to the finish of this system.
    Click to expand...
    I think one easy explanation here is that Nintendo's been squatting on some of these games for so long that any testing jobs for games remaining prior to Switch 2's release have already been done and dusted. Peach's Showtime released this year but with development tracking back to between Yoshi's Crafted World and Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn, and Fire Emblem Engage had been certified as far back as 2021. Everybody 1-2 Switch was also reported by Fanbyte back in 2022 as basically sitting in the Nintendo vault, a year before it's unceremonious reveal and release. They've been stockpiling a lot of these games, and the well is finally starting to dry out -- this despite the fact that we even know of games releasing for the platform in 2025.
     
    Repeating what I said in the duplicate thread:

    I don't know how much stock I'd put in some of these comments, particularly in regards to any apparent knowledge of projects coming into the testing pipeline. I was a contractor in NOA product testing previously, and at least back then, contractors had next to no knowledge of any projects outside of what was currently in test. You wouldn't even know what game you were to test on an assignment until the first day of the assignment.

    And yeah, this isn't a layoff. NOA contractor testers were always project to project. The fact that they're converting roughly half of the contracts to full-time as part of this restructure is a positive. It's a shame that they aren't doing it for all, but a lot of contractors would bomb out after one project because they just either weren't good testers or, like...sane.

    And to add on to what I said before, this also extends to the Switch 2. A product testing contractor is not going to know anything definitive about the new hardware just because they haven't seen any Switch 2 games in test at this point in time.

    Literally all the story is, is that NOA is converting about half of their current contractors to full-time and not renewing the contracts of the other half.
     
    Decoyman said:
    I think one easy explanation here is that Nintendo's been squatting on some of these games for so long that any testing jobs for games remaining prior to Switch 2's release have already been done and dusted. Peach's Showtime released this year but with development tracking back to between Yoshi's Crafted World and Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn, and Fire Emblem Engage had been certified as far back as 2021. Everybody 1-2 Switch was also reported by Fanbyte back in 2022 as basically sitting in the Nintendo vault, a year before it's unceremonious reveal and release. They've been stockpiling a lot of these games, and the well is finally starting to dry out -- this despite the fact that we even know of games releasing for the platform in 2025.
    Click to expand...
    agreed at this being a possibility, though that makes the rumor of switch 2 being delayed bc nintendo needs more time for their SW even more odd. can't wait till we're out of the dark on all of it.

    edit: i will say that this news in specific doesn't necessarily make me think there's a direct tie to switch 2, just that the thought the above could be true is exceedingly odd. though, if you really wanted to go full 🤪 , technically anything done by nintendo at this point could, in some way, somehow, possibly even marginally, be tied to switch 2.
     
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    One of the quotes there definetly feels a bit odd to me. The whole “I don’t know how Nintendo can launch games like totk anymore” feels a bit….off. I understand how they feel but it feels….kinda arrogant to me?

    If anything they would just hire new contractors if they really can’t handle it now
     
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    Lugia667 said:
    One of the quotes there definetly feels a bit odd to me. The whole “I don’t know how Nintendo can launch games like totk” anymore feels a bit….off. I understand how they feel but it feels….kinda arrogant to me?

    If anything they would just hire new contractors if they really can’t handle it now
    Click to expand...
    it will not be a story reported by kotaku without things like this
     
    Lugia667 said:
    One of the quotes there definetly feels a bit odd to me. The whole “I don’t know how Nintendo can launch games like totk” anymore feels a bit….off. I understand how they feel but it feels….kinda arrogant to me?
    Click to expand...
    That really does reek of ignorance. NOA Product Testing has never been the sole QA body for a title like TotK. If NOA is restructuring Product Testing, it's not somehow going to destroy Nintendo's ability to test large-scale projects.
     
    1. Boooo layoffs. Interested to know how many.

    2. Not worried about the whole “lull in first-party game tests” thing. With the Switch 2 delay, they’re probably slotting in some of the “done” games. Which would already be tested. That also importantly doesn’t mean there’s no games to test, which people are always so quick to jump to.

    3. Nintendo of America is far from the only group of testers.
     
    Contracts "until the end of the construction" or "end of the project" are bullshit. You cant get any stability in your life because you dont know when you could be let go. Maybe they were working 40/5 and this was their only income.

    Those are layoffs fullstop. I it came from any other company you would be saying something else.
     
    pelusilla6 said:
    Contracts "until the end of the construction" or "end of the project" are bullshit. You cant get any stability in your life because you dont know when you could be let go. Maybe they were working 40/5 and this was their only income.

    Those are layoffs fullstop. I it came from any other company you would be saying something else.
    Click to expand...
    I've been laid off twice in my life (so far). A contract's end is not a layoff.
     
    pelusilla6 said:
    Contracts "until the end of the construction" or "end of the project" are bullshit. You cant get any stability in your life because you dont know when you could be let go. Maybe they were working 40/5 and this was their only income.

    Those are layoffs fullstop. I it came from any other company you would be saying something else.
    Click to expand...
    I was a contractor for a couple years and worked with other contractors for longer. No one with actual understanding of what they're doing looks at contract work as a fully stable job. They plan around the end of the contract. I guarantee you, these contractors knew ahead of time and were prepared.

    I was just laid off from a job a few months ago. It's vastly, vastly different.
     
    pelusilla6 said:
    Contracts "until the end of the construction" or "end of the project" are bullshit. You cant get any stability in your life because you dont know when you could be let go. Maybe they were working 40/5 and this was their only income.

    Those are layoffs fullstop. I it came from any other company you would be saying something else.
    Click to expand...
    As a contractor, this is how things work. In my case its academia, where every semester I have to renew my contract, even during a summer program/sessions. Sure its not full stability cause I am dependent on my employer having funds to contract me, hence why I have to do it every semester in case they do not. Layoffs and non-renewal contracts also have different benefits, so this is not excusing anything, its how contractors work.
     
    I won’t comment too much on the contracts not being renewed. In Australia at least, and in the software industry, if you’re contract you are paid higher rates than salaried equivalent, and you’re taking a very well known risk. I sympathize with the folks who are being displaced, as it might not be so simple finding another role in this industry, and they may not be contract by choice.

    Moving a number (?) of them to permanent does sound like a very positive move though.
     
    I mean if they said they were testing the new 3D Mario game to Kotaku well….not getting their contract renewed would be the least of their problems
     
    As someone who was a former contractor for a completely different industry, a contract job is not something that one can feel comfortable of being permanent. Just as long as the company who hires the other company/workers needs them for. The contract is for a short-medium term reason and the reason only. Sometimes it can be cut short or have the contract renewed. Was lucky where the company I was working for was pretty important and so didn't really have to worry about it too much (near the end of my stay I think they moved to being like an internal part of the organization).

    At least Nintendo also seemed to also have created a significant number of new full-time employee positions. As well as compensated those who were affected negatively by the move. Which may be what Nintendo wanted, less contractors more internal employees.
     
    Last edited:
    Nintendo wants to go the opposite way of Sony, instead of moving their headquarters to the US like Sony did with Playstation Nintendo wants as few workers as possible in the US because of higher salaries there compared to Japan.
     
    Giancarlo said:
    i doubtfull Nintendo would give us a scarce second half of the year release cadence, we still need to know what game is holiday title for this year.
    Click to expand...

    Direct starts: "You guys are too much. We loaded up your H1 2024 with a bunch of remakes, what are you waiting for? Go play those! They'll last you into 2025"
     
    pelusilla6 said:
    Contracts "until the end of the construction" or "end of the project" are bullshit. You cant get any stability in your life because you dont know when you could be let go. Maybe they were working 40/5 and this was their only income.

    Those are layoffs fullstop. I it came from any other company you would be saying something else.
    Click to expand...
    I work as a QA and have been for 5 years now, 3 years as a contractor and 2 as a full-time employee. This is how this job works and has nothing to do with any implied fanboyism. Some QAs love it because it allows them not to get stuck with a company or project they don't enjoy for long, some (like me) prefer stability and look for a company where they're hired full-time.

    I'm really sad for the QAs being interviewed who really wanted to stay at NOA, but this is not a layoff.
     
    darthdiablo said:
    Direct starts: "You guys are too much. We loaded up your H1 2024 with a bunch of remakes, what are you waiting for? Go play those! They'll last you into 2025"
    Click to expand...
    Nintendo where is MP4? i still waiting to play the game, with the exception of the Paper Mario the Thousand Years Door remake, i basically running out of games to play on my Nintendo Switch(i hoping i could play the game this year, Pikmin 4, Paper Mario the Thousand Years Door e Metroid Prime 4 and then my Switch rest, unless theres a more intereting game, or i wait for Switch sucessor)
     
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    Are contractor not people that are put in a position temporary? I know it is like that in belgium. Its a common thing. The good news is that they will convert x% into "permanent" which to be honest is mostly not the case with these kind of things. But again, im not sure if this is the same (at least the name is)
     
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    xtoc said:
    Are contractor not people that are put in a position temporarily? I know it is like that in belgium. Its a common thing. The good news is that they will convert x% into "permanent" which to be honest is mostly not the case with these kind of things. But again, im not sure if this is the same (at least the name is)
    Click to expand...
    A contractor is a temporary employee, yes.
     
    Most contractors are pretty much just employees with a timer. You don't "actually" choose your hours/project or have any major benefit most of the time because of the reality of work (and because of the implication, good luck explaining of you need more hours or watch your "choice" evaporate when you dont like the projects available). Its usually a worst of all worlds situation, unless its something very temporary and you are solving a very time pressed issue at a desperate company (meaning they need to pay up). And then moving on to another company an employee or become a business owner afterwards.

    From my view its a structure usually used to avoid worker rights. Frankly the outright pay needs to be much much better than an equivalent salary to be worth it. And where I'm looking, it rarely is.

    Its very unfortunate that so many employees are pretty much forced in to these shitty arrangements. Its often contract or nothing.
     
    I know that things are as they are, I know that labour law in the United States is shabby. But just because people often have no choice but to accept precarious contracts, repeatedly, does not mean that it is bearable or acceptable. It just sucks.

    I’m glad that some employees are getting full time and a more stable situation, but I find it frankly out of place, while others are losing their jobs unintentionally, that the focus of the article is on upcoming game releases and that the conversation here is about switch 2. In such a context it is irrelevant and inappropriate. Frankly the statements of employees on this subject can only come from irrelevant questions of kotaku in such a moment.

    Of course, some employees appreciate this flexibility. But those for whom this is not the case simply cannot build life projects serenely because of this crappy instability. It is true that project logic and temporary work are the norm in many industries including video games, but on arrival, at the end of the month someone no longer has their job.

    Whether you are a contractor or a full-time employee, you often do the same type of work, regardless of the industry. There should be regulation and better support, in terms of training, in terms of versatility, whether on the side of workers or employers. Just because reality sucks doesn’t mean we have to stop finding it sucks. I think of people who lost their jobs, we don’t give a shit about the switch 2 in such a context honestly.
     
    A couple of years ago when the NLRB complaint dropped, it sounded like permalancers made up a significant portion of their team. I don't think we can know if this move is downstream of that, though I could see Nintendo being motivated by a desire to protect their image. They've mentioned in the past that they feel the need for some flexibility with labor, so I suppose it's possible that some people come back at some point, presumably as contractors again.
     
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    BabyDontHurtMe said:
    Yeah contractors are essentially at-will employees, right? That's my understanding of it. When I did an internship, the documents did say i was an at-will employee.
    Click to expand...
    Yeah. And the nature of a contractor can vary, as well. The Product Testing contractors that NOA hires generally go through a couple of different temp agencies, and the testers are paid through the agency rather than Nintendo directly. They could also be cut loose easily for any indiscretion at Nintendo's call.

    Other times, a company may hire someone directly as a contractor, so in that sense, they're employees on the company's payroll rather than outsourced.
     
    Metroid said:
    I was a contractor for a couple years and worked with other contractors for longer. No one with actual understanding of what they're doing looks at contract work as a fully stable job. They plan around the end of the contract. I guarantee you, these contractors knew ahead of time and were prepared.
    Click to expand...

    Not true:

     
    LiamRobertson said:
    Not true:

    Click to expand...

    But actual is some true too it. A contracter not always know how long they are been contracted for. But they know for sure its temporarily. When the job is finsihed, its finished. Im sure Metroid prime 4 qa will go the same way. But it could always be extended depending on the work. I did worked as a contractor in belgium. Most of us are hired by a company that outsources contractors where needed. If the work is done, they will put on different companies. Not sure if this is the same case for every contractor, but they knew for sure that it will end in some time.

    Here in belgium as a contractor you work under a company that outsource them OR You running it by your own like any other people that doing stuff like gardens, buidling houses, building websites for companies etc... but it isnt layoffs.

    Its like when you hire someone to build your home, it will stop when the home is been build.
    Its not like you layoff the one that build your home. They can call it layoff, but it isnt correct in my view.
     
    LiamRobertson said:
    Not true:

    Click to expand...

    Just because this type of contract is clearly precarious does not alleviate the shock of losing your job. And just because it’s a shitty situation often not chosen doesn’t mean we discover today what being a contracter means.

    The labour law that provides this type of violence sucks. It’s a structural problem.
     
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