One thing that has emerged recently has been the consolidation of the gaming industry as a whole. Probably the most notable example of this is Microsoft’s purchase of Zenimax/Bethesda, the first case of a platform holder purchasing in full a major third party publisher. But there is also Embracer, that is buying up studios at a rapid pace. It seems like the question is who is going to buy what next. When it comes to Nintendo, that’s a very calculated question.
Speaking with Nikkei and as transcribed and translated by VGC, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa was asked about acquisitions, primarily in relation to their recent signing of Next Level Games. Furukawa was surprisingly blunt in his answer, saying that Nintendo didn’t want to go around “blindly” buying studios, and that purchasing other companies is something they think a lot about and how strategic it will be in the long run. They don’t see the simple act of just buying a lot of studios as adding inherent value.
“This is a partner that we have been working with for many years to develop various software, and we decided that we could improve the quality and speed of development by making it a subsidiary and working together.
“We are not just blindly acquiring companies because we want development resources. We don’t think that simply expanding the scale of our business will really improve the value of the entertainment that Nintendo provides.”
Much like other companies, Nintendo will no doubt buy more developers, but it sounds like a lot of thought and previous work experience will go into that decision when it does happen.