Nintendo to implement baggage screening at shareholders meeting amid safety concerns 

Guidance posted by Nintendo regarding its upcoming annual shareholders meeting revealed that a simple baggage check will be carried out at the event. It seems such screenings have not been conducted in previous years, suggesting that this safety measure was put in place due to the threats made against Nintendo’s previous events. 

The 84th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will be held in Kyoto on June 27, with only shareholders allowed to attend. According to official documents, the business report and consolidated financial statements for the previous fiscal year (April 1 2023-March 31 2024) will be presented at the meeting. Resolutions will be passed on several matters including the distribution of surplus funds and the election of directors. 

A new section was added to the bottom of Nintendo’s notice about the venue. It states that all visitors must undergo a simple baggage check for safety management reasons. This addition may be due to threats that have been made against official Nintendo events. 

At the end of last year, Nintendo postponed the Splatoon Koshien National Finals 2023 due to death and bomb threats targeting Nintendo employees, tournament attendees and staff. The company also cancelled their big annual event, Nintendo Live 2024 Tokyo, citing safety concerns.  

On April 3, the suspect thought to have carried out these threats was arrested. It was revealed that 39 messages threatening Nintendo employees and attendees at company events were sent through the inquiries form on Nintendo’s website. The suspect has since admitted to sending these threats. 

In a separate case, a woman was arrested for sending death threats to Nintendo executives in February 2023. Despite these arrests, it seems that Nintendo is still cautious about holding in-person events. 

Nintendo plans to announce its successor to the Nintendo Switch sometime during this financial year. Although it is not on the cards for the June episode of Nintendo Direct, it will be interesting to see if any information about the upcoming console is revealed at the shareholders meeting. 

Written by. Verity Townsend based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2024-06-03 13:26 JST)