Nintendo officially denies Miyamoto's plan to step down within Nintendo
In a Wired interview published last night, Shigeru Miyamoto discussed plans to step down from his position as senior managing director of Nintendo's EAD division, in the interest of making smaller projects on his own within Nintendo.
Investors clearly didn't read his quotes closely enough, saw "I'm going to retire" and had mini-panic attacks, causing Nintendo shares to drop two percent overnight. And so, of course, Nintendo is denying reports that Miyamoto is leaving (even though he's not leaving).
"This is absolutely not true," a Nintendo spokesperson told Reuters. "There seems to have been a misunderstanding. He has said all along that he wants to train the younger generation." Then, to further clarify the message, "He has no intention of stepping down. Please do not be concerned." At least, not concerned enough to affect the stock price.
There definitely appears to be a "misunderstanding," with Nintendo issuing a denial of Miyamoto's own quotes. We suspect there's currently a "misunderstanding" between Miyamoto, who wants to transition away from supervising massive projects, and Nintendo, who wants to put his name on every game.
