Nintendo’s Japanese HQ catches on fire

Earlier today, Nintendo’s headquarters in Japan caught on fire.

Nintendo’s development center in the city of Kyoto was surrounded by firetrucks after a small fire broke out. A Japanese news site reported the fire started at 1pm local time. Eight fire trucks arrived at the scene but the fire had already been put out by employees since the fire was relatively small.

Luckily, no employees were injured. Police reported that some of the desks and chairs in the room on the third floor where the fire started were burned.

After checking out the scene, the fire department stated that it’s very likely the fire was started due to a device being charged. The device in question wasn’t named but many are speculating that it was a Nintendo Switch, which isn’t allowed near extreme heat.

Still, police and fire departments are still investigating the cause of the fire.

What is Nintendo’s development center in Kyoto?

On Twitter, Nintendo fans joked the fire would disrupt the development of highly anticipated games like Metroid Prime 4. But it was quickly pointed out that many of these games were developed in other offices.

This particular building in Kyoto was built in 2014 to home Nintendo’s development staff. This is mainly an office building.

Nintendo has announced that it’s building a second building in Kyoto that will be 12 stories tall, focused on research. Nintendo has already acquired a 10,000-square-meter plot of land for $40 million.

The new building is currently being referenced as “Corporate Headquarters Development Center, Building No. 2.” It’s estimated to be completed in 2027 with 38,000 square meters of floor space.

The gaming community said at the time of the news that the purchase was a “waste of money” since Nintendo will just “make another Mario game.” Of course, it’s currently unknown what the building will exactly be used for. Nintendo has continued to support indie game development and create innovative new ideas for their classic characters, so it’s no surprise that an expansion is underway.