Andy Yates, a veteran of Nintendo UK, has announced his retirement. Yates started working for Nintendo in 1996 and has held various roles within the company during the 26 years he's been there for.
Initially working as the Exclusive Nintendo Distributor at THE Games, who held official distribution rights for Nintendo in UK and Ireland. He then became Head of Trade Marketing in 2001 for four years, before becoming the Sales Director at Nintendo for a whopping 13 years! Then, in 2018, Yates was promoted to deputy general manager while also still leading the company's sales efforts.
It's safe to say that his retirement is well-deserved! And it sounds like Yates has plans for the coming years too, which he shared in a heartfelt message on his LinkedIn:
"I feel so lucky to have worked for Nintendo which is a wonderful company and I shall miss the video games industry enormously. I would like to thank all my colleagues, customers, agencies, friends and adversaries whom I have worked with over the years and I wish everyone good health and success for the future. My new office will be my local golf club, where I hope to concentrate on lowering my playing handicap so please wish me good luck. 'Stay safe everyone' and I hope our paths cross again someday."
We will absolutely be wishing you the best of luck on the fairway, Yates! Perhaps you can make time for a spot of Mario Golf: Super Rush when you're at home?
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 15
Did he get a gold Game & Watch?
@dystome ha, top bants
He looks like a friendly fellow.
Never played a video game in his life!
It would've been more fitting if he would spend his retirement playing Mario Golf. 26 years is a long time to work for the same company. You don't see that often these days.
Did even know he existed? Just goes to show the lack of exposure.
@HamatoYoshi Putting aside the fact that you don't know if he plays games or not, you'd be surprised how many executives of top gaming companies haven't played video games.
"Business" and "playing video games" aren't always mutually exclusive.
@Damo well that’s a given, and it’s not just the video game industry, lots of organisations are run by people who have no interest in their own products.
@HamatoYoshi That was exactly my point; you don't have to have an active interest in the product you're selling to be good at your job.
Which is why I found your initial comment a bit confusing... Like it's a bad thing that someone who has clearly put a lot of effort into making Nintendo the success it is today should somehow be thought less of because he doesn't have 100-hour save in BotW?
(Which, as I said before, he may well have anyway - we don't know if he's a gamer or not).
@Damo my initial comment was being lighthearted!
@Damo Yamauchi and Iwata were an interesting juxtaposition in that regard. Although Iwata probably never clocked out of work until the day he became a CEO
@HamatoYoshi I used to work for a photo copier manufacturer. No president or manager was going home and flipping on a photo copier, lol
(And don’t expect any manager to be able to clear a paper jam)
Andy Yates is a legend. He made me do the ice bucket challenge once. Those were the days
Congratulations to my Uncle Andy on his retirement. What a legend.
Never heard about you before Andy (if I have I have forgot it) but hope you get a good retirement.
Tap here to load 15 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...