Nintendo Cuts U.S. Support Contractor Roles, Moves Work to South America

Nintendo reduced a swath of U.S.-based customer-support contractor roles and moved portions of support work to South American contractor teams, reportedly including Brazil, according to internal and anonymous sources. Multiple U.S. agencies that previously staffed frontline and specialist support roles began seeing contracts phased out earlier in 2025, and the changes may affect roughly 200 contractor positions.

Sources close to the operations say the shift is more than a simple handoff of first-line inquiries. Teams in South America have taken on more end-to-end casework, handling support tickets from intake through resolution rather than relaying them to U.S. specialists. That change has prompted concerns among affected contractors and agency managers about training depth, language and localization barriers, and the risk of inconsistent quality-of-service across regions.

The staffing moves come as Nintendo manages support volumes tied to the Switch 2 platform and seasonal demand cycles. Company representatives told reporters it "had nothing to announce" when asked about the staffing changes, and they disputed some details of the accounts while reiterating support for growth in Latin American markets. The shift appears to be part of a broader push to align support capacity with regional market expansion and fluctuating product demand.

For U.S.-based(contractor) workers and the agencies that employ them, the impact has been immediate. Agency staff reported contracts being phased out over several months in 2025, leaving some contractors facing reduced hours or job loss without the same recall rights that typically apply to salaried employees. Contractors on temporary arrangements are commonly excluded from the protections afforded to full-time staff, which can complicate severance, benefits continuity, and rehiring prospects.

Operationally, moving end-to-end casework across continents changes training priorities and workforce metrics. Supervisors will need to expand knowledge-transfer programs, refine quality assurance checks, and bolster bilingual support capabilities to prevent service disruptions. Time-zone alignment and regional language fluency are potential advantages for South American teams, but they require investment in localization and product-specific training to match specialist knowledge held by U.S.-based contractors.

The restructuring underscores growing reliance on global contractor networks for peak support needs and regional growth strategies. For contractors and support managers, the near-term focus will be on transitioning caseloads, documenting institutional knowledge, and negotiating contract terms that protect worker continuity. Observers and affected workers will be watching for further company updates and whether Nintendo institutes formal retraining or transfer programs as the support model evolves.