Nintendo does not plan to capture studios or publishers

Nintendo breaks the trend. The company does not plan to acquire a large video game studio.

In early February, Nintendo chairman Shundaro Furukawa said the company did not want to buy outsourced publishers and studios. Unlike Microsoft and Sony.

Nintendo vs. Grain

In January, Microsoft made headlines when it bought publisher Activision Blizzard for nearly $ 70 billion. Shortly afterwards, in February, Sony bought a stake in Destiny Studios for about $ 3.6 billion. Also, in early January, Take-Two bought Interactive Zinga for $ 12.7 billion. This is the company behind FarmVille and Words With Friends.

But Nintendo has decided to change course. When Nintendo Investor MeetingThe head of the company recalled that Shundaro Furukawa is based on the Nintendo brand. “Dedicated Products” By its staff. With that, “There are a lot of people who don’t have Nintendo DNA” In the group “Not a plus for the company”.

Limit yourself to essential acquisitions

According to Kyoto, the best way to maintain its position is to invest in itself rather than buying outside companies. As a reminder, last November, Mr. Furukawa revealed that he plans to invest more in studios that are already part of his family. So it invested 100 billion yen or 870 million US dollars to strengthen its internal studios.

During the investor meeting, the chairman made it clear that, in principle, Nintendo was not opposed to the acquisition. But only if they are necessary. For example, in January 2021, the group acquired Next Level Games, the developer of Luigi’s Mansion 3. The acquisition process began when the studio’s major shareholders expressed interest in selling their shares.

Invest differently

Clearly, the company places particular emphasis on organic growth. In general, Nintendo wants to partner with outside studios to create new games, rather than buy studios.

In addition, the company plans to invest heavily in non-gaming projects, for example movies based on its intellectual property, as well as theme parks and shops.

So far, this deferred strategy seems to be working. In fact, the Nintendo Switch has surpassed the bar of 100 million consoles sold in five years. Explain, Nintendo provided last quarter’s report with sales of $ 2.2 billion.