New leadership for Nintendo of Europe following continental reorganisation
Luciano Pereña takes over as president, CEO and chairman as Stephen Bole steps down after six years
Nintendo of Europe has announced its new leadership team following the completion of a long-running reorganisation process, with Luciano Pereña taking over as a president, CEO and chairman.
Pereña (pictured above) succeeds Stephen Bole, who held the role for six years and is now retiring after 35 years at the company, Gamereactor reports.
Bole became COO and president of Nintendo of Europe back in 2018, when long-serving exec Satoru Shibata returned to Nintendo's Japan headquarters. At that time, Pereña was promoted to chief financial officer.
The change in leadership follows the reorganisation of all Nintendo's European subsidiaries — including Nintendo of Europe, Nintendo France, Nintendo Netherlands and Nintendo Iberica (which handles Spain and Portugal) — into a single entity: Nintendo of Europe SE.
All local branches will remain open, but operations have now been centralised in Nintendo of Europe's Frankfurt headquarters.
VGC reported there have been additional changes to Nintendo's European leadership as part of Pereña's appointment.
Laurent Fischer has been named chief operation officer, following his role as chief marketing officer since 2018. Fischer previously spent nine years as managing director for Nintendo of Europe.
Meanwhile, Tom Enoki has been named senior managing director for the corporate planning officer. He is a relative newcomer to Nintendo of Europe, having joined the senior management team in 2022.
The reorganisation has been completed ahead of Nintendo releasing the successor to the Switch. The platform holder has confirmed the new device will be announced within the current financial year (i.e. before April 1, 2025), but as we recently discussed on The GamesIndustry.biz Microcast, all signs point to it launching in the next fiscal year.