Man Convicted of Obstructing Nintendo Japan Live Events After Sending 39 Death and Bomb Threats

A man was sentenced to one year in prison with a four-year suspended sentence for sending 39 death and bomb threats to Nintendo in Japan.

27-year-old Kenshin Kazama, of Hitachi, Japan made threats to “kill everyone involved” at upcoming Nintendo events during a four-month period last year, leading to the postponement of Nintendo Live 2024 and the Splatoon Koshien 2023 National Finals in December 2023.

Kazama made 39 threats between August and November 2023 using Nintendo’s online inquiry form, telling the company to “be careful about events that have spectators in attendance.” He also said: “I’ll make you regret bringing such a s****y game into this world,” though it was unclear which game he meant.

Japanese news organization NHK reported that Judge Hiroshi Kawakami of the Kyoto District Court said “the defendant became frustrated by his continued losses in online matches of Nintendo games, and committed the crime to relieve his stress.”

Nintendo said in December 2023 its employees had received relentless threats, which began targeting spectators, attendees, and staff at Nintendo Live 2024, forcing the cancellation in the interest of safety. The event was due to take place in January 2024, following the Splatoon event planned for December.

An update came in February 2024 when Nintendo announced the Splatoon event and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe World Championship would take place on April 13 and 14, and both went ahead without issues.

Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].

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