The last couple of years have seen a significant spike in the number of insiders stepping forward to talk about just how bad sexual harassment and toxic behavior can get in the gaming industry. Companies such as Activision Blizzard went under fire for unbelievably brash instances of employee abuse, while others, like Nintendo, simply kept under the radar and got away scot-free.

While this may have led some members of the gaming community to believe that some of Nintendo's own studios didn't have such problems, it seems that this couldn't have been any further from the truth. Kotaku's latest interview with numerous former female Nintendo of America (NoA) employees revealed that they have been subjected to sexually inappropriate behavior, workplace inequality, and ample cronyism throughout their careers at Nintendo's American branch.

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According to Kotaku's interview with ten separate sources who worked at Nintendo at some point over the past decade, the company is fraught with "frat house" behavior. The interview mainly focuses on NoA's contractor staffing company, Aerotek, where women were paid substantially less than men and simply not afforded opportunities to advance, which is similar to many other industry reports on toxic workplace situations. "I felt like I was treated with a sense of 'otherness,'" explained one of the sources, while another recalled an instance of a male employee posting about wildly inappropriate Pokemon-related materials in the company chatroom, which doesn't seem to have been dealt with.

Nintendo HQ

Nintendo's latest financial reports make it plainly obvious that the company is enjoying immense success with the Switch console, but this success may have partially been built in a highly toxic workplace environment. Kotaku's sources recall situations where full-time Nintendo employees - so-called "red badges" - would leverage their workplace status to avoid dealing with consequences for their inappropriate behavior. This included, but was not limited to, unwanted sexual advances and threatening behavior. And, since there were very few full-time female employees to advocate for other women at Aerotek, there was nobody for sources to turn to for help.

Another noteworthy example comes from Hannah, who was in an open lesbian relationship during her stint at Nintendo of America. Her significantly older backup coordinator said that her sexual orientation was "kind of sad." Hannah also had to deal with unwanted advances from her heterosexual coworkers, who said she was "just playing hard to get," which sits in stark contrast with Nintendo's official stance on same-sex relationships.

Kotaku's interview goes into significant detail on the how and why of these harassment instances, which do include cases of literal stalking and dangerous behavior. While Nintendo had previously issued a statement condemning workplace harassment, sources explain that its American branch had failed to provide them with a safe, equal-opportunity workplace setting. Considering these claims, it may also be worth remembering that Nintendo of America has been accused of union busting as well, which further brings into question the umbrella company's attempts at maintaining a family-friendly image.

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Source: Kotaku