Nintendo is actively investigating reports that its female testers face harassment and discrimination

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Female game tester were subject to discrimination and harassment according to internal messages seen by Kotaku. A report exposing a toxic workplace culture at the company was published earlier this week.

The president of Nintendo of America sent an email to employees acknowledging the claims the day after the report was released. According to the message, the company is taking the allegations seriously and will always investigate any allegations.

Nintendo has strict policies designed to protect our employees and associates from inappropriate conduct and expect full compliance from all of them.

This isn't the first time a large gaming company has been exposed for creating a toxic workplace for female staff, with the first being in July of 2021. Around the time that these reports surfaced last year, Nintendo's Bowser condemned them, stating in a company email, "I find these accounts distressing and disturbing, they run counter to my values as well as Nintendo's beliefs, values and policies."

According to a report by Kotaku, women are underrepresented and paid less than men in Nintendo's contractors. Female Nintendo staff were overlooked for full time work and progression opportunities according to a former employee. Female staff were subjected to sexually inappropriate behavior and homophobia from male Nintendo employees according to a report.

A company group chat within Microsoft Teams in which a male member of staff justified attraction to a prepubescent game character and shared meme about which Pokemon would be best to have sex with is one of the allegations. According to the report, one former employee said thatNintendo was almost like a nightmare and that management warned her to be less outspoken after she reported inappropriate behavior to them.

Nintendo has been accused of union busting following a filing with the National Labor Relations Board. Employees who join a union are charged with discussing working conditions and salaries.