The President of Nintendo of America Doug Bowser has sent out an internal message to staff acknowledging the “media coverage involving claims made about worker conduct.”

This message comes fresh off the heels of an article published by Kotaku which brought attention to allegations of sexual harassment suffered by female contractors while working as game testers at Nintendo of America’s Redmond, Washington headquarters.

Kotaku’s sources accused two managers who work or had worked at Nintendo of workplace misconduct. The report also described an internal work culture that was a “frat house”.

The original article also mentions sexually inappropriate posts about Vaporeon the Pokémon and Paimon from Genshin Impact made in a group chat on Nintendo’s Microsoft Teams server.

It also goes on to list other issues that have come up over the years. You can get the full picture here.

In any case, Bowser’s internal communication stated the following: “We have and will always investigate any allegations we become aware of, and we are actively investigating these most recent claims.”

Bowser also wrote that, “If you experience, have experienced, witness, or have witnessed anything concerning such behavior that is contrary to our Standards of Conduct, employee handbook, or Company Values, please immediately contact your HR Business Partner.” 

Doug Bowser made the news last November when he condemned the allegations of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard. Days later, Nintendo updated its corporate governance document with a commitment to increase the number of female managers at the company.

As such, we are interested to see how he and the rest of Nintendo America plan to deal with this situation. Beyond sending a memo, of course.

Our hearts go out to the victims of the alleged sexual misconduct. Working in the game industry is a dream for many and it is genuinely disheartening to hear so many tales of individuals suffering for their passion.