San Francisco, Aug 19 (IANS): Nintendo America has launched an investigation following claims that female game testers experienced sexual harassment and discrimination.

According to Kokatu, President Doug Bowser sent an internal message to employees acknowledging the "media coverage involving claims made about worker conduct".

He wrote that "we have and will always investigate any allegations we become aware of, and we are actively investigating these most recent claims".

This message was posted to the company's internal SharePoint account. (Kotaku has also corroborated the message's authenticity with two other current Nintendo employees), the report said.

In the message, Bowser reassured current employees that Nintendo was taking the allegations seriously.

"We have strict policies designed to protect our employees and associates from inappropriate conduct and expect full compliance with these policies by all who work for or with us," Doug was quoted as saying.

"We have and will always investigate any allegations we become aware of, and we are actively investigating these most recent claims," he added.

Bowser's message was posted on the same day that Kotaku published an investigative report about female contractors who had experienced sexual harassment while working as game testers at Nintendo of America's Redmond, Washington headquarters.