Back in December last year, Nintendo was forced to cancel a series of public events in Tokyo due to safety concerns. These safety issues arose after a user began posting death threads via the inquiry form on the company’s official website. At the moment, the motive behind these threats is currently unknown.
According to a daily newspaper in Tokyo, a suspect has been arrested in connection to these death threats. The suspect is a man in his 20s who worked as a local government official in the Ibaraki Prefecture.
The suspect has been arrested for interfering with Nintendo’s business and sending these death threats. He has also been held accountable for public disruption. The report says the suspect sent persistent death threats to Nintendo employees which started at internal staff and spread to the event staff. As a result, Nintendo was forced to cancel various live events.
These events included the Splatoon Koshien 2023 National Finals and the Nintendo Live 2024 celebration. The Splatoon event was scheduled to take place between 16-17 December at the Ota Sogo Gymnasium in Tokyo. The Nintendo Live 2024 event was to be held at the Tokyo Big Sight Exhibition Centre from 20-21 January 2024.
Nintendo decided to cancel both events due to these disruptions to ensure the safety of its staff and customers. Nintendo rescheduled the events for April. However, only the Splatoon Koshien 2023 National Finals and the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe World Championship 2024 are now taking place.
It is still unclear what the motives were behind the death threats. If more information comes out, we’ll share it.
Source: 4Gamer
