Nintendo of Europe Cutting 320 Jobs

Nintendo of Europe is cutting around 320 jobs, the company has confirmed. This includes the 130 full-time staff confirmed to be on the way out back in June, and an additional 190 people who worked out of the company's Germany-based localization office.

The cuts were confirmed to Kotaku today. The site points out that, though the 190 people in Germany were technically temporary staffers, they all worked only with Nintendo, and in some cases, for periods of multiple years. All 320 affected employees will be let go by August 31.

As a result of the job losses, Nintendo of Europe will outsource the localization and testing duties previously performed by the German office. Nintendo says in a statement that the cuts were needed to "increase flexibility and cost efficiency in the long-term."

For Nintendo's most recent quarter, the company posted a drop in year-over-year revenue and profit despite strong Mario Kart 8 sales and Wii U hardware gains. The company is hoping to turn things around this holiday with the introduction of its amiibo toy line and major new releases like Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS and Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire remakes.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch

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