Suspect charged for cancelling Nintendo Japan events by threatening to ‘kill everyone’ for ‘shitty games’

The man suspected of being responsible for threats that led to the cancellation of Nintendo events in Japan has been charged.

As reported by Kyoto Shimbun, the man – who is a 27-year-old resident of Hitachi city in Japan’s Ibaraki prefecture – was charged today with obstructing business by force.

According to the charge, the man sent a total of 39 threats via the inquiry form on Nintendo’s official website, between August 22 and November 29 last year.

Threats allegedly included, “I’ll make you regret bringing such a shitty game into this world”, though it’s not clear what game he was referring to.

The man is also accused of threatening to “kill everyone involved”, and saying, “be careful about events that have spectators in attendance”.

The threats led to the cancellation of the Splatoon Koshien 2023 National Finals and Nintendo Live 2024, which were set to take place in Tokyo in December 2023 and January 2024 respectively.

The man was charged today at the Kyoto District Public Prosecutors Office

At the time of the cancellations, Nintendo said it had decided to do so because it couldn’t sufficiently ensure the safety of its customers.

“Our company has been persistently receiving threatening behaviour targeting our staff,” Nintendo said in a statement in December, translated by VGC.

“Recently, these threats have extended to the audience and staff of the Splatoon Koshien 2023 National Finals event as well. With consideration to the safety of our customers as our top priority, we have decided to postpone the event.”

“Nintendo Live 2024 Tokyo… has been cancelled due to the inability to ensure the safety of our customers,” it added.