IGN has published a new report detailing a major shift in how Nintendo Of America is handling customer support in the region.

According to IGN’s sources, Nintendo Of America has decided to outsource its customer support services to South America, letting go of hundreds of contractors that used to handle the work. Nintendo had been re-hiring the same set of contractors on a part-time basis for 11 months at a time, apparently to skirt around a laws that would have required Nintendo to give them full time employment if they were hired for a year or more. Due to this strategy, the contractors became highly trained and familiar with the work despite being part-timers on paper.

IGN’s sources estimate around 200 contractors are affected by Nintendo of America’s decision, which they were informed of through their respective employment agencies as opposed to Nintendo themselves. The sources also claim that the outsourcing process has been “challenging and frustrating for everyone involved” due to the language barrier, and they are concerned that overall customer service quality in the region will suffer as a result.

When approached by IGN for comment, Nintendo had this to say about the matter:

While we have nothing to announce about our internal business activities, the claims shared with IGN include inaccurate information. At Nintendo of America, we are extremely thankful to have partnered with several companies and their talented contractors over the years to deliver high-quality customer service experiences. We continue to evolve and expand our customer service model with external partners that have deep experience in all the markets we serve across the Americas. This approach allows us to support the full scope of our customer service mission in both North America and our growing Latin American markets, and better scale to seasonal needs for consistent support. As always, our top priority is to provide excellent customer support, and we are pleased that customer satisfaction with the service provided by all our partners remains positive.

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