Nintendo reveals plans to protect its game development from earthquake disaster
The company assures that any in-development games wouldn’t be lost
Nintendo has revealed its disaster plan, should a major earthquake ever affect its Kyoto, Japan headquarters.
As much as 18.5% of the world’s earthquakes take place in Japan, despite its land only covering 0.25% of the planet, according to the country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism.
In a shareholder Q&A during its recent Annual General Meeting, the company was asked what its Business Continuity Plan was should there ever be a natural disaster that severely impacted its HQ.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa claimed that even in the event of such a disaster, the company has a detailed plan for how it could continue operating.
“Even if our business continuity is hindered by a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, or by some dangerous infectious disease which is highly contagious and could cause a serious medical condition, we have a documented response plan and have implemented various proactive measures so that we can restore operations as quickly as possible,” he replied.
“If a disaster occurs, we will convene a disaster response committee headed by the president that will act to confirm the safety of our employees, protect the integrity of company property, and secure personnel and communication systems for the recovery effort.”
Furukawa also claimed that Nintendo has taken other measures such as creating data backups and using multiple manufacturing partners to make sure any disruption is minimal.
“In the realm of our development activities, backups are regularly made for critical information like the data for games currently in development,” he explained. “This allows us to restore the data as soon as possible should something happen.
“In manufacturing, we try to reduce overall risk by dispersing operations among multiple subcontractors wherever possible. This will allow us to mitigate the impact to manufacturing and procurement of materials in case a manufacturing partner’s facility is damaged.
“With regard to individual business operations, we have always been working to ensure the smooth continuity of business by constantly reviewing our priorities in case of an emergency and by preparing action plans for each department during normal times.
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Nintendo buys the land next to its Japan HQ to build a new development centre by 2027
“We also undertake disaster response training as needed. We will continue to pay close attention to providing the optimum Business Continuity Plan according to the development of our business.”
Nintendo’s main headquarters is based in Kyoto, which has received 4.4 magnitude and 4.3 magnitude earthquakes in the past few months.
The Kyoto Prefecture’s official website says: “In terms of large-scale earthquakes, it is expected that the many fault lines in Kyoto Prefecture, such as the Hanaore fault and Nara Basin Toen fault, will cause inland earthquakes. There is also a high probability of large damage occurring from a Tonankai-Nankai earthquake predicted to take place at sea.”
In April, Nintendo announced that it had successfully purchased the land next to its main headquarters in Japan, and plans to build a new 12-floor development centre there by 2027.
