Though it's easy enough to think of Nintendo headquarters as being something akin to the interior of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, the reality is that it is a corporation that's run by a hierarchy just like any other. Scott Moffitt – Executive VP of Sales and Marketing – is a face and name that many Nintendo fans may be familiar with, as he's been present at numerous events related to the company, and he, too, is part of the longer chain of command. As it would happen, it's recently been announced that Moffitt will be leaving Nintendo.
Moffitt's exit was described as "amicable" by those who were involved, though it sounds like the shift was something that wasn't entirely voluntary. Moffitt will be leaving this July, and Nintendo is dissolving the position that he'll leave behind; the responsibilities will be distributed among other senior staff members with roles that are similar to his. Here's the official statement:
Scott Moffitt, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, has decided to leave Nintendo of America. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Scott will continue to work through the end of July. Nintendo has a strong group of seasoned leaders in place who will step in to assume the full responsibilities of the role on a permanent basis, with the objective of driving more collaboration and greater efficiencies across these groups and among the respective leaders. We thank Scott for his years of service and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.
What do you think? Are you disappointed to hear of his departure? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[source ign.com]
Comments 74
Can he give me a shout and spill the beans on NX now?
Considering how flat the Nintendo branded sales have been for quite some time now, I bid him farewell and hope for better days ahead. No hard feelings, buddy, but perhaps you should work for a competitor (insert evil laugh).
Not sure if I care anymore who gets fired or parts ways. People come and go more often then not in big companies. Nintendo just happens to keep people for what seems longer then average.
I do like Reggie but I'm surprised he hasn't left yet. It may just be time for him to move on soon as well. Or move up behind the scenes more.
Sounds like his job was becoming redundant
Huh, cool.
In more exciting news, a new character for Pokken is being announced July 14th, apparently.
There is a possibility that he is moving on and they decided to dissolve the position rather then refill it.
I wish him well but honestly I hope that this means better marketing is inbound. Nintendo hasn't been in your face since the early wii days. NX will need amazing marketing...even if it fires rainbows from the disc slot.
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy for the wii u or the arcade?
The biggest part here is the fact that they are absorbing his job and not adding someone new. Another worrisome move by Nintendo.
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy Link?
@hieveryone Arcade. No way it won't come to the Wii U version at some point afterwards though.
@MitchVogel http://pokkentournament.jp/news/index.html#news1
@hieveryone Arcade, but there's no way it won't come to Wii U.
We need a substitute for him. Nintendo need a Right people to boost Nintendo sales.
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy I see. Yeah, this HAS to come to Wii U sooner or later. Wonder who it is?
At least they still have Reggie
So long and thanks for all the fish.
I'm more shocked that Nintendo actually had a Sales and Marketing position.
Not Scott! Nnnnnnnoooooooooo!
...Actually, never heard of 'em.
Don't need a dedicated marketing manager when the only advertising you do is twice a year Nintendo Directs made in Japan, and previously-signed contracts with distributors and licensing that just gets renewed with little change.
I still have his Gold Pants Mii in my Streetpass Plaza. Sorry to see him go, wish him well.
@XCWarrior - What exactly makes this "worrisome" ?
There is nothing about this dry, amicable change in corporate structure that strikes me as "worrisome"...
I swear people read way too much into these things to suit their agendas.
Walking intio Nintendo is probably just the chocolate factory. You jump from cloud to cloud and slide down a flag pole. There you are greeted by toad and he leads you to meet princess Peach and little link whom motion for you to get on a boat. You sale a short distance while link plays the flute and arrive on a tropical island where DK tropical music is playing and then Fox Mcloud does a fly bye.
I wish the guy well and hope his redundancy pay is decent but I am so glad I don't have to listen to any more of his damn buzz-word-littered, uninformative, market drivel.
Well, I suppose someone had to take the blame for the poorly marketed Wii U.
As already pointed out redundant position and money that could be spent elsewhere.
If Nintendo had excellent often seen advertising he might have had some kind of case that his job was worthwhile.
It will probably be hard to compare though as even Nintendo must realize they have to advertise the nx after Wii U.
@Action51 Bravo, sir.
There have been quite a few exits from Nintendo of America in the last 12-18 months haven't there? Seems to me like maybe Nintendo aren't too happy with their performance, but maybe I'm reading too much into it.
On a side note, I've been expecting to see an article on Brexit and how it may affect British and European gamers, will there be anything on this topic?
@Action51 Bravo, sir.
Undoubtedly, Moffitt couldn't stand working for Reggie one more day. He was probably on the verge of suicide having to take orders from that maniac.
I can take your job!No problem!
Sales & Marketing? Nintendo don't know the meaning of advertising.
I always imagine their Marketing Dept. looks like this office.
Now that's a classic ad from the 80's and I still remember it. Don't mind the ad for manky Bounty bar that plays for the last few seconds.
Honestly through which other company doesn't reduce staff when sales are low and the stock is low.
He was a great guy and I wish him well and thank him for his service, but I also hope this is the change needed for Nintendo to actually DO some Sales and Marketing
All the hairy chest Scott, good luck
@SetupDisk they need better sales and marketing; i'm not sure how spreading his duties around among underlings is necessarily a good thing.
i have a gut feeling that if this guy had any ingenious ideas, they probably held him back every step of the way.
@Spoony_Tech Nintendo is more like a family company, even if the Yamauchi's aren't running it anymore.
How does that statement from Nintendo in any way hint that his leaving was somehow not voluntary..?
maybe now we will get somone that will actually market their consoles
I know him! He's the guy who makes all the PR statements on the Nintendo.com website!
This news has been broadcast Directly to you!!
@Action51 I"m guessing you are not old enough to have a real job. When people leave a company and the job is absorbed, especially after multiple years of not making a lot of money, its because they are trying to stop the bleeding.
I've been a part of businesses like this before. Obviously Nintendo can turn it around, but NX has to be super appealing. If it's a failure, they're going 3rd party. They can't survive another gen like the WiiU, especially as the handheld market shrinks as more and more people play games on mobile devices.
@XCWarrior I get what you are saying but it does sound like his job has become redundant. Nintendo is a conservative company. This is a common practice for conservative company's.
@XCWarrior You people are still acting Nintendo is going bankrupt? God damn. So many been saying this for years and nothing has happened.
@faint That's the positive spin way of saying it, yes. I'm sure he played a role behind the scenes. But he's sales and marketing. Maybe they are dumping him because he did a terrible job, but its sales and marketing. You can't have enough of those people. You SHOULD replace them.
@TwilightOniAngel I didn't say bankrupt. Read. I said they are going to have to switch to 3rd party if NX fails. I never said bankrupt. PLEASE READ.
@XCWarrior My bad force of habit.Either way going third party? They have the money to last awhile. You know that.
@TwilightOniAngel Yes they do. But let's say you owned a video game company.
YOu make systems and games.
The systems don't sell well for 10+ years.
The game still have a great attach rate, but its clear if you made them multiplatform, you'd make more money on each game and you wouldn't have to worry about making hardware anymore, which is generally not profitable compared to making games, especially as we head toward a digital age where you don't have to print discs as much.
What are you going to do? Remember, you are multi millionare and have to appease your investors who are also multi millionair or billionaires.
@TwilightOniAngel @XCWarrior
Either way, I don't see the NX becoming a hit unless it pulls something akin to what Wii did in 2006 because Nintendo doesn't have the support to back them up. But as far as I see it, all the patents show is a Kinect for your hands. Great.
@XCWarrior
"The systems don't sell well for 10+ years."
That's not true. Remember, the Wii released in 2006 selling 100 million units, which of course made a ton, and it only got discontinued in 2013 so in reality that would make it almost 4 years of below target quo. To be honest, I could only really see them going through about 1 to 2 years of another Wii U case, before going 3rd party.
...That's what I'm thinking anyway.
@Porpoise WiiU is 4 years old, and has sold poorly. 3DS, compared to DS, is not selling well. Last 2 years of Wii's life was not great. So we are at like 5-6 years of bad hardware sales.
Now throw in NX selling badly (hypothetical). You have to imagine they'll try and make it work 4-5 years before waving the white flag.
Hence, you are at 10+ years. That's where I was going with my scenario. I just didn't want to write a book for a comment. So my scenario is in 2020 if NX isn't a hit, which I don't see it being right now, because I don't think they can even settle on a name, and that's what's causing a delay on the reveal.
Just my thought on the matter, but something is up, they should be showing it.
@XCWarrior
You're right, something IS up. Gut agrees with that one.
To be honest, with Nintendo's past product names like "Super Smash Bros. For Wii U" and "TLoZ: Breath Of The Wild", their next system name might as well be "Another Subpar Nintendo Console". Hell, maybe the next Zelda game will be called "Fart Of The Wilderness" or maybe even, "Ganon's Morning Breath" Not to mention the Wii U itself. Who takes their previous console name and just adds a "U" to it? Apparently Nintendo.
Sir, I am getting awful tired of this. Awful tired.
@Porpoise It worked for like 20 years. Just sounds dumb now.
Don't forget:
During SNES: Lots of "Super X"
N64: "X X 64"
Gamecube they avoided it, and it sold bad, so
Wii was in a lot of titles, and because it was meant for parties, party was a lot.
WiiU only way to differeniate was to use U, and that's just dumb.
Even for hand helds
GBA - Lots of games has Advance in title
DS - The D.S. subittle puns were too many
This generation was not a fan of what worked for so long.
@XCWarrior
Well, I am. I think something from the system's name in the game title sounds cool. Like "Super Mario Advance" makes it sound like it's advanced, and "Super Mario World" sounds like it's super now, because it wasn't "super" prior to 1991.
I don't know what my generation's problem is, maybe they're just weird. Or too used to PlayStation, Xbox, etc.
Yeah, let's go with that. They very obviously don't realize that they are using systems which are far more filled with children who look and act just like them in which they want to look "grown-up", when in reality, it just makes them look smaller. It's the Nintendo games that the refined kids and adults use because they actually know and appreciate what good quality games look and feel like. Not to mention, the sheer amount of parents that use Nintendo consoles. And it's no coincidence they do not happen to be influenced by their children for enjoying some Super Mario, here and there, or like many people on this site, full time.
I won't lie, every depiction of a grown man that I have seen who still plays his Xbox looks and behaves very similarly to a man-child. It's all over YouTube, and the general internet.
Bottom line? A lot of children are quite underdeveloped.
Let me rephrase that, most kids are very stupid. End of story.
I wonder if it had anything to do with the recent interview he did regarding the NX?
@XCWarrior
The Wii U definitely was a failure in terms of sales (which it shouldn't have been) but Nintendo has still turned a profit the last 2 years.
@Zeldafanforlife Dude, they made like $100 compared to Sony last year who made 100x that with their gaming division.
Business people want to make $$$$$$$$$$. Not just $.
We must see Nintendo adapt and change with NX. Otherwise they are not going to survive. THat's how human existance works. You adapt and change, or you die out.
Nintendo is at a major crossroads. I'm not saying they are doomed, but they are not in good shape. Interim president who doesn't have Iwata's passion, in 2015 the only reason they made profit was because of amiibo, not video game sales. And amiibo's popularity is 1/5 of what it was, you don't see people complaining about sell outs anymore b/c they saturated the market with too many of them.
NX has to be THE BOMB, otherwise it's going to bomb. PC master race is taking over, even Sony and MS better start realizing. Pretty sure MS already has.
What do you mean wasn't entirely voluntary? It sounds exactly like it says - he is probably pursuing other stuff. He chose to leave. Glad I have his 3DS mii and all that.
@XCWarrior Considering what they've been doing the past few years, I think they know they need another plan just in case the NX fails.
They introduced amiibo, they are branching into mobile, movies, and theme parks. They are licensing out their IPs more often, like the recent deal with Vans (I love my Peach shoes! <3). Basically what I mean is they are exploring other ventures, they aren't focusing purely on video games anymore.
Well, Nintendo's marketing was pretty much non existent, so I think letting him go and distributing his responsibilities among senior executives may be what they need to step up and do a hell of a job.
Edit: Whoever says PC is the "Master race" was probably a bully who's peeked in high school lol
@XCWarrior
Over the last 2 fiscal years Nintendo has made a little over half a billion in profit. $380 million in 2014 and $150 million in 2015. If they're still turning a profit even in a transition period how do you think they'll be doing when they have all their other initiatives up and running? Their movies, theme parks and others? I think they'll be just fine in a couple of years. Also, what do you think the Cloud amiibo's functionality is going to be in the FF7 remake?
@Zeldafanforlife See the chart fromt his article. IT doesn't even include 2015, where as you point out, NIntendo had another huge profit fall.
http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/01/07/nintendo-3ds-on-top-in-japan-physical-sales-hit-a-24-year-low/
Nintendo has been going in the wrong direction for 10 years. Can the stuff you mentioned turn it around? MAYBE. No guarantee.
As for the Cloud amiibo functionality for the FF7 remake? I dunno, maybe you'll get the clothing DLC for "Free" that is available for PS4 and Xboner owners for like $5.... so you're actually out $8 compared to them when you buy a $13 amiibo.
@XCWarrior
Why do you always put a negative spin on everything?
@Zeldafanforlife I gave you factual numbers. That's not spinning anything. That's reality.
I love NIntendo. I own more than 600 video games since the NES days, and more than 450 of them are on a Nintendo platform.
That being said, Nintendo has made about 1000 horrible decisions during this generation, versus tops 7 good ones. And I might be overly optimistic on the 7 good ones. They don't understand the U.S. or UK market at all right now, and it shows in their sales. People hated the WiiU gamepad. They took forever to undertand that the 3DS was not a DS spin off. And their mobile efforts so far are laughable and they don't make money. They still don't understand most of their games need online multiplayer, not local multiplayer.
I know Nintendo can do great things, but they are doing very bad things and that's why they are sitting No. 5 out of the 5 options right now - PS, Xbox, PC, mobile and then them. It's sad, and they need to right the ship ASAP.
@XCWarrior
You've also got the Cloud amiibo that works with other games and is a nice collectible. There's a difference between having a positive outlook on something and having a negative outlook on something and with the way you say things all it does is make me and anyone else who reads what you type think that you WANT people to think negatively about Nintendo. Tell me, do you want people to think negatively about Nintendo?
@Porpoise
I fail to see you're logic. Just because a game has a name that you don't care for does that automatically make the quality of the game worse? I don't think so. I happen to like the name Breath of the Wild, it conveys exactly what the game is, going out into the Wild. The name of a game has no impact on it's quality and your ill feelings towards it serves no purpose.
@MGray XD
@Zeldafanforlife
Oh, shut up. It's not that I don't care for the name, it's just that it's a very questionable choice in marketing. 'Breath' is the first word in the title, and when most people see the word 'breath' they typically think of dead squirrel breath in the morning. Hence, the bad choices in their product names which eventually just deter away the idiots, who relate it to what I just said, have no idea about Nintendo like you and I do.
Tell me, einstein, where did I ever mention the game's quality and how a dumb name decision given to the title would affect the quality of gameplay and story? You may like the 'wild' part, but I and I promise, a HELL of a lot of other people very much do not like the 'breath' part. I never had any beef with 'wild', it's just that my "logic" remains that 'breath' means/equals, STINK.
My ill feelings towards it serves no purpose? Okay mr. communist, whatever you say...
Did anyone ever teach you about free speech and the right to vote, protest, and poop on the floor? In case you haven't noticed, this is the internet. Anybody can do whatever the hell they please, and just because you tell me that my opinions fail to have a purpose doesn't mean that it's going to make me stop.
Learning the hard truth of being unable to control other people save for yourself, was a lesson I learned a long time ago. It's alright, you'll get it eventually. pat pat
PS: I can't help but feel that your post was quite biased. Judging by your username, it makes a lot of sense.
@Porpoise
What I said came out wrong. I was aggravated dealing with trolls and I took my frustration out on you. I wasn't trying to suggest that YOU were thinking the name of a game would affect it's quality, just that I think others who read your comment might get that impression. What I believe Nintendo's thinking on the title was this, Breath of the Wild people will equate to 'breath of fresh air', I'm guessing you've probably thought this as well but the pessimist in you knows most people will instantly think bad breath. It was honestly my first thought as well. When I first saw breath in the title I instantly thought 'this isn't good'. We don't know yet how this will affect sales obviously but I want to remain hopeful.
I wholeheartedly agree with you in one of your other posts equating xbox gamers, both kids and adults, to immaturity. I would add a good number of playstation gamers as well. I rarely see a Nintendo gamer acting like a 5 year old. I think most kids today are very immature mainly because they have terrible, immature parents but I know that's what you were getting at. I will say this though, your response to me was very condescending and immature. More than anything I think you were just like me, letting frustration get to you and venting in a rant.
You might've been right if they used 'fresh air' somewhere in there, but they used 'wild' and I don't know about you, but to me, the wild smells and isn't pleasant, which sprouts the wrong idea about 'breath'. For the record, I don't think sales will be affected, and I don't think anybody will care, save for the detailed people like you and I.
How the hell was my response to you condensing and immature? Why am I supposed to be sounding like a business investor on a Nintendo site, detailing what Miyamoto says? I told you that people can do whatever they please, and my responses to you are no exception. You want condensing and immature? Your profile name is more immature than mine, being named after a cetacean. It's the people on the internet like you that think you have to be snooty and "mature" to say anything taken seriously. I'll tell you something, analyst, I'm gonna say whatever the hell I need to say and you're not gonna have a problem with that. Capeesh?
I sure was letting frustration getting to me and venting in a rant, which was also taken out on you. The problem is most of it is caused by your snide, smart aleck comments to my posts. I will tell you something about me; I have no patience for those type of people and I will have none of it. I will do what I please and not give two flying cockroaches of what anybody else has to think of it.
Tl;dr: I don't care, regarding your last two sentences. I'll do what I want.
Sure I haven't seen very much of Scott, but I liked him. I have no way of knowing how well of a job he did or didn't do, but I was a fan of Moffitt! I wish him good luck in his next adventure.
I am still upset that I missed his spotpass mii and have yet to obtain it!
@XCWarrior Well clearly you did not graduate from Jr High school...Oh sorry, I was just engaging in your tactic.
Yeah...nice attack and then claims of expertise.
I'm sure you have the inside track because of your business experiences, which clearly I don't have because I never had a job?
Troll...get lost.
@Action51 You didn't make a single point. I don't even know what post you are replying to since I have so many on this thread.
And I do have a job tied to the business industry and how things work. Nintendo is not paying you to defend them blindly. So don't. They've made mistakes. See Star Fox's controls. See Zelda U delays. See WiiU name. See 3DS name confusion. See new 3DS name confusion. See Nintendo Land trying to be another Wii Sports. See the WiiU Gampad's complete reversal of the Wiimote's simplicity. See Nintendo's hardware and software sales this generation. See Nintendo's issues with putting online multiplayer in their games. See how much worse My Nintendo is vs Club Nintendo.
Nintendo has a lot of issues to fix. If you can't see that, you simply are not looking.
It's probably for the best. Despite Scott likely being a great guy and all he was the VP of sales and when there are limited sales the high level VPs are the first to go. So while it may not be fully his fault it was likely known. Too bad he couldn't have stayed on through the Pokemon Go release phase, but I wish him the best of luck in his future personal and professional endeavors.
@Action51 you can read anything you want into news like this. I could say it's good news because Nintendo is shaking things up and restructuring so they can go all in with NX. It's still just wishful thinking. We really know nothing. :-/
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...