Nintendo Would Rather "Organically Expand The Organisation" Than Rely Solely On Acquisitions

I still think they need to merge GameFreak into the company at least, like Sony did with Insomniac. I mean, aside from what, three games on PS4/others, everything they make is Pokémon. And it would hopefully give them the kick in the pants they need to improve quality.

Aside from that, I do agree that all these constant mergers lately have either been pointless (Activision) or disastrous (whatever companies Sony just closed). Honestly, if you can’t make the games yourself and have to constantly buy other companies so you can just slap your name on something, then why keep trying? Looking at you Microsoft.

You taking notes, Philly?

Another perfect thumbnail.

@LavenderShroud I lean more towards Nintendo selling their share in Game Freak, making them fully third party, but if your suggestion comes true and Pokemon games become good, then we might be looking at a brighter future.

@batmanbud2
And why would Nintendo sell its shares of Gamefreak? I am genuinely curious. I don't ever foresee that happening, especially given how much Gamefreak makes.

Well, like a wise user said, Nintendo has become a skeleton company that barely develops any games, with most first-party games being outsourced. Sometimes they buy the studios if the results are satisfying, like Next Level Games. Sometimes they just hire them. They also have made an immeasurable amount of money this (actually, last, since Switch belongs to the last) generation with fully-priced Wii U ports and Switch hardware and accessories, with relatively low budgets and high prices.

It's no happenstance why Nintendo has been going as long as they have.

@Banjo- dunno if "skeleton company" is the right term.

@N00BiSH In terms of staff, not income or outcome.

A company aims to use its millions/billions of dollars to directly invest into expanding and reinforcing company resources and new ideas, rather than purchasing gutted brand names at a premium to put on a splash screen?

Pshhhhh, that'll never work.

That's very nice and all, but come on Nintendo, get Level 5 already! You know it's the smart thing to do.

@batmanbud2 How would that be of benefit to Nintendo? That would be an awful business move

That's good for the most part, but I honestly wish Nintendo was at least a bit more forward about making acquisitions when it makes sense. There's no reason AlphaDrean had to die, for example. There's no reason Nintendo had to let Microsoft snatch up Rare, without whom their software library would have been abysmal on the N64.

I'm glad they're not a mega conglomerate like Disney, trying to establish a monopoly and purchase everything. But they could be just a bit more aggressive. Buying Next Level Games was a good move, but Retro Studios is arguably even more important.

Even though Nintendo had it's ups and downs I'm ok with them doing whatever they want. They're so unique and have their own way of surviving in the market.

I can't see a world without Nintendo.

@Not_Soos I agree, but they are conservative and they are obsessed with minimising costs and risks, which is why they haven't grown, outsource games instead and almost never acquire a studio, even after many years working together on exclusive games and Nintendo IPs. It's difficult to understand, because they could not have been more financially successful. Alpha Dream actually made the best, in my opinion, Mario & Luigi game, Superstar Saga.

Noooooo, I was so looking forward to Nintendo paying 400 billion for MaeioKart 8 Deluxer and buying the company that made it only to shut it down 2 weeks later and un-sell it to ppl. It went so well for Sony, after all...

Hmm… sounds like a business strategy another big entertainment business could benefit from cough Disney cough

@Banjo- They bought Next Level Games because the owner was retiring and wanted to sell. Had Nintendo declined he would've sold to someone else and Nintendo would've lost a partner. Appart from that you are heavily exaggerating.

"In terms of staff." You're not making sense. They have thousands of developers. Of the games released this year most were developed by partners or outsourced, but that's mainly due to them working on Switch 2 games right now.

For me personally I think Nintendo have done amazingly well with what they have considering Sony and especially Microsoft are spending billions on Studios and even then some of them are backfiring and closed down like Firewalk and Tango.

Yet heres Nintendo with less studio's pumping out twice as many first party exclusives and selling double (sometimes treble) what Sony's/Microsofts first party games do.

Nintendo don't need to rush and make acquisitions/mergers and instead maybe acquire those second party studios that have been vital to them over the last 10 years like Intelligent Systems, HAL and Alpha Dream (sadly let go) etc.

And only make a proper acquisition if an appropriate studio becomes up for sale and fits Nintendo such as Level 5, Square Enix, Platinum Games and Spike Chunsoft (my opinion).

@Not_Soos well the thing with AlphaDream is that Nintendo didn't really have much of an investment in the company so they couldn't really interfere. AlphaDream ultimately went under due to racking up troubles of their own - mainly businesses mismanagement and fairly large debts.

Acquisitions are quite messy imo, we can see this with Sony, Microsoft, Embracer. They usually lead to layoffs. Its way better to grow organically and have partners like GF, Hal or IntelligentS. However, I would love Nintendo to acquire Level5, more beacuse L5 need that, they are brilliant making games, but the company itself is a mess lol, and if my theories are correct Nintendo will have a streaming service in NSO in a few years, Level5 have a lot of movies and series, i think it would be an interesting prospect.

@Not_Soos Are you implying Retro Studios isn't a Nintendo first-party studio?

I think they've kept to a fairly healthy pace of growth, and most of the aquisitions and parterships they've made seem to have been thought out very well. They're more or less sitting at the top of the world right now, so I guess it's up to them whether they want to invest in solidifying their position or trying to leap even higher.

@UltimateOtaku91 I feel those are probably the most reasonable companies for Nintendo to be aware of in a potential sale. Not that they would, but I feel that would smart. Although I’m not exactly sure what Spike Chunsoft does outside Mystery Dungeon and Dragon Ball? I thought they were a subsidiary of BandaiNamco? I’m surprised they haven’t taken in Level-5 yet. Aside from a few Yo-Kai Watch games, isn’t everything they release only on Nintendo, aside from mobile games?

@LavenderShroud Spike Chunsoft are a Publisher behind the AI Somnium Files, Danganronpa, Zero Escape and Master Detective Archive games. They have also made Mystery Dungeon, Dragon Ball and even the first 5 Dragon Quest games. They are nothing to do with Bandai so could be a good buy for Nintendo.

@LavenderShroud Right, Nintendo published all Level5 games on DS and 3DS, its a natural fit imo. Nintendo even asked them to make a new Professor Layton for Switch, and they were happy to oblige.

@LavenderShroud In terms of Level 5 they are now starting to put games onto Playstation again like Inazuma Eleven and Decapolice. They used to make games for Playstation back in the day as well like Dark Cloud, Rogue Galaxy, White Knight Chronicles and even the Ni No Kuni games. But since the 3DS they have become very close with Nintendo instead.

@UltimateOtaku91 Ah! I see now, my bad. Yeah, that definitely would be a good buy for Nintendo. While I’m not a big fan of game companies being bought up left and right lately, there are some that would just make sense, like Nintendo buying up the ones you mentioned.

@BTB20 They don't have as many developers considering the gigantic size of their business, fourth largest video game company by revenue. Ubisoft has many more employees and it's the thirteenth. Thus, Nintendo has been outsourcing most first-party games for a very long time, so it's not related to Switch 2. Nintendo can do whatever they want. I don't think they are worried about what you and I think, so it doesn't matter if we approve it or not. I'm just describing their business strategy.

@Kev_2610 And considering the fact that Level-5 didn’t want to release games in the west anymore a few years back, and now Nintendo themselves is requesting games from them, it would be a great way for Level-5 to succeed even further, I’d say.

A responsible and smart decision.
Typically these business practices get overwhelmed by competitors that use much more reckless tactics yet wield many short-term benefits. Nintendo managed to survive growing from small fish to big fish without completely losing the standards they set at the beginning.

@Noxide Honestly compared to Microsoft and lately even Sony, I feel Nintendo is the only one that knows what it is even doing. They are more successful than ever without having to rely on mergers or acquisitions, which all seem to fall flat lately.

@KayFiOS Don't forget Sony who bought 99% of their developers including the long list of shut down devs since 1990's.
It's like Sony are competing with Electronic Arts. Who can close most studios? lol

Funny thing is that the new studio MS created in recent years are making the new Perfect Dark in coop with Crystal Dynamics (Tomb Raider).

I'm surprised Intelligent Systems isn't on here. Always thought they were in the same category as Monolith and Retro.

Considering how consistent Nintendo's output is this seems to be the way to go. I mean for Christ sake look at all the companies Microsoft bought up and years later there's like hardly anything to show for it. Sony fares a lot better but still struggles to match the same consistency as Nintendo. Not to mention a big chunk of Sony's library are just exclusivity deals, stuff like Final Fantasy and Stellar Blade will be multi-plat one day and people will stop counting them as a reason to buy Playstations.

Always thought Camelot and Intelligent Systems would be under their wing by now but I'd much rather Nintendo play cautious as oppose to doing a Disney

@Toastmaster Yep, Sony's list of closures is very long and they just closed two more. Now that you mention Crystal Dynamics, that's an excellent studio that Square Enix acquired and then sold.

@Kingy You probably know this, but Square Enix announced that they are fully multiplatform now and Sony's own exclusives are going to PC. You are right that third-party support/exclusives/marketing was what drove PS sales so high, while whatever Nintendo achieves is on their own.

@Banjo- Sakurai made an interesting video about how throwing more people at something doesn’t always bring the productivity gains you’d expect.

https://youtu.be/1-iZFmenARA?feature=shared

Ubisoft often has multiple teams in multiple countries working on a single game around the clock. Nintendo tends to use smaller, more tight-knit dev teams.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods. But as you’ve said, Nintendo doesn’t seem to be doing too badly with its current strategy, which no doubt promotes face-to-face communication and makes developing a shared company culture easier.

@Maxz I agree with you completely. I think it was NEStalgia who defined them as a skeleton (I agree), compared the size of Ubisoft with Nintendo and also the revenue (Nintendo #4, Ubisoft #13). I'm not against Nintendo outsourcing, they do that ocassionally since Nintendo 64, although I miss the in-house development and, most of all, the masterminds that are no longer involved in development but are now consultants at best. I can feel that difference and I miss them.

I think that Nintendo's outsourcing is too much now. Keeping teams small has advantages and disadvantages, as you said. No question about Nintendo doing great financially, although as a gamer, I worry more about the games than about the wealth of shareholders. 😂 Thanks for replying, in between.

@Banjo- Ubisoft is terribly managed. It's one of the largest gaming companies in terms of dev count but fails to utilize them properly.

@BTB20 You are probably right about that, but that's a different story, management. I am going to say, though, that Immortals Fenyx Rising is one of the best games released in recent years. It's extremely polished (on Xbox, at least), beautiful and a lot of fun to play. They are planning a new Rayman and that's also great news after the excellent Rayman Legends.

This is why Nintendo will thrive in the future cause whenever they choose leaders and creators they do it from within instead of hiring some from off the streets. They also don't merge with other corporations nor buy up studios left and right only to let them go thereafter.

@Banjo- I completed Fenyx Rising and it's a great game, but it's DLC were weak as they weren't tied to the main game.
Since it didn't sell enough, it won't get a sequel.

Looks like UBI are mainly focusing on smaller scale games now like these remakes and remasters.
When PUBI recovers, i wonder if they will gamble with expensive AAA Games anymore or keep releasing smaller games.

@Toastmaster I completed the game 100%, but I didn't get the DLC. I've heard many people saying it's not good. I also wonder what's next for Ubisoft. Too many AAA Assassin's games in a saturated industry and their pirates game wasn't very well received. I hope they find some balance, they could have developed more IPs.

@Banjo- Square sold Crystal and Eidos to Embracer as they were desperate for money.
Crystal Dynamics is a great studio and i wonder if the whole studio are working on Perfect Dark.

One of the creative leader at Insomniac who worked on Wolverine recently joined Microsoft to make Perfect Dark instead
It's more exciting to work on PD than a Marvel game at this point as it's over 18 years since the last one, and only 2 were made since 1990's.

@Toastmaster Right, the new Perfect Dark is being made by many important talents including the creative leader at Insomniac. I also wonder if all of Crystal Dynamics is working on it, but I think that they are leading the development rather than supporting it. I liked the latest trailer, the music is cool and the gameplay looks like Perfect Dark.

@Banjo- I paid 1$ for 1 month of UBI Soft+ on PC, so i tried all DLC. One the DLC are time limited challenges from main game.
Another one is a top down isometric game based on Fenyx.
I forgot the third, but none of them were good.

I think the next AC AAA Game will be the last one for a long time, but there will probably be some remasters.

@Toastmaster It's also included in Game Pass Ultimate because it includes EA Play, but when I played it, the DLC wasn't there, so I didn't bother.

I also think that the next AAA Assassin's Creed will be huge and polished, but then they are going to give it a break and diversify development. Too much money invested in each and too many games being released. I think that the next one after Shadows will be the rumoured Black Flag remake/remaster.

@Banjo- Yes, Crystal are probably the lead developer of Perfect Dark as the original team didn't really know how to make it.
It's a game that attracts good talent because it's a it's a interesting concept to revive.
Looks like they mixed Mirrors Edge, Splinter Cell and some other games, but it's a cool mix.
Crystal also have great graphics artists and gameplay programmers.
I think it's in good hands.
.

@Toastmaster Yeah, I agree! It's in good hands. 😁

@Banjo- DLC is never included on Game Pass, but you get 10% discount if it isn't on sale.
I think the AC Black Flag rumor is true.

UBI make more varied games than you think, but many of are released exclusively for PC.
Anno series were always PC only.

UBI made some new IP's for PC only too in recent years.
Ode (From the Driver developer) , Battlecore Arena (2024), Rabbids Coding, The 7 first Settlers games, Heroes of Might and Magic series, Roller Champions, Championship Tactics (2024).
Growtopia closed on consoles years ago, but lives on on PC.

UBI Soft released Rayman Fiesta and Rayman Jungle Run on PC like 2 years ago and i don't think any of them will be on consoles.
Yes, UBI remastered 2 Rayman games for PC only...1080p/60.
UBI charged only 5$ for each remaster as far as i remember. I bought both.

The point is. UBI release by far more games on PC than on consoles.

Fun fact: Sega also release more games on PC than consoles.

Capcom now earns more money on PC than all consoles combined....My guess is that Capcom could be thinking of PC exclusive games too, too boost PC sales even more.

@Toastmaster Right, the Gold Edition is included in Ubisoft Plus and that is available on Xbox, but not included in Game Pass Ultimate, that's EA Play, my mistake. I mixed EA Play and Ubisoft Plus up. 😂

I didn't know that Ubi made so many PC exclusives, that's interesting. I know that Sega develops a lot of games for PC and their games are usually Play Anywhere, so you can get the Xbox and PC version with no additional payment.

Indeed. PC is the biggest gaming market worldwide, leaving mobile aside which is a different, more casual thing. Consoles have become additional income, but not the main. Even Xbox and Sony need PC now to survive! I think it's good because it ends the stupid console wars.

Nintendo is wise with their money. It seems to be more of a “how do they fit in with us” as opposed to “we bought them”.

AlphaDream comes up a lot but they had debt and Nintendo already owned all of the games that they published so there was no real point in acquiring them other than a name a some debt?

@DreamlandGem Thank you!

@Banjo- UBI make by far more games than people think, but they are all exclusive to "UBI Connect" on PC.
I read somewhere that there is 300-350 million PC Gamers.

Sega actually make games that isn't released on Xbox or any other console, but mostly strategy games like Total War and some others.

I don't know if you missed the part where UBI released 2 Rayman remasters for PC at least 2 years ago.
I own both.
It's weird that none of them are on Switch or any console at all.

@Toastmaster I think that there are even more PC gamers. What are the Rayman remasters? Perhaps, they will release them for consoles, since Rayman is very popular. I have played the first game on DSi, an awful version because it's zoomed in, the 3DS version of 2 that is very nice, Rayman 3 HD on Xbox and Rayman Legends on Wii U and Xbox.

When they've purchased second party studios before like Next Level Games or Retro Studios, it's been based on the prior working relationship that has seen those studios match Nintendo's culture, style and ethos. Hopefully we'll continue to see Nintendo work with more new studios and cultivate additional positive relationships.

@Kev_2610 When Level 5 actually releases a game that is. I'm honestly amazed how many missed moonshots they have made in the past decade and still be a private company. You think with IPs like Layton and Yo-Kai Watch (Yes, I'm biased) they would of been corporate raided by now.

@Kingy If I recall correctly, Nintendo owns minority stakes of Intelligent Systems and HaL. I do think they might have plans to circle the wagons if need be. Wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo is starting to do just that with Game Freak.

This is how it should be.

I would like to see Nintendo add one or two more companies. Just to specialize in certain genres.

I'm fine with their approach but it varies what ideas they have. Some genres they could approach but I can see why they have approached what they have currently.

But building up staff, building up new talent, getting them to build up great ideas is just great. Sure not everyone can stay with the same company, but if they take some values, appreciate what they get then others where the ideas or staff values or creativity or 'trends/money making and other goals' are different then yeah you notice somethings.

Not talent to buy, then control,, some are flexible others aren't, then make them do what they weren't even good at (or they are creative but oh not the business practices fitting they were looking for and then drop them) then drop them yeah that's been great to see in the industry with Hogwarts Legacy surviving for a company that was killed off by Disney for WB to get them a second chance, if HL flopped well WB would either kill them again or give them a chance MAYBE but I highly doubt it.

Yet Redfall or others don't take a hint or those studios just try to transition but struggle to. What great ideas that was for forced competition then others probably not as great either in the past competition forced direction (which could have gone either way) but I mean they still turned out creative enough in my books despite how they maybe were in development environments, after buying/researching them of 5-7th gen consoles niche/popular/left behind gems I appreciate.

What to attach to that gameplay to make it really work, feel Nintendo, suit an audience they see it could do or the gameplay it would naturally flow with. Pikmin works so well with the gardening theme and a bunch of aliens to offer a very interesting take on a strategy game then just armies/buildings just exploration or instead of turn based on a grid, real movement but with other factors to focus on.

Other games just go for an approach like those or an action adventure game.

Pikmin feels like a strategy/survival game (but only for day/night rather than well stamina, thirst and other factors type unless that were to be part of a hardcore mode of sorts).

Ever since the Metroid Prime article on NLite I think it was not TimeExten I have thought about that more what they think of, out of the box thinking then copying from others.

Researching competition of the past with racing, shooters and platformers has been especially enlightening in comparison to the eh modes of racing nowadays, eh themes/gameplay of shooters today and the copy paste-ness of Indie/Astrobot these days that's just sickening. Ah what genres I used to like now retro only I research/buy. Unless they put a good spin on things.

@Banjo- Yes, probably. Stores here have mainly marketed PC hardware and PC's the last for years. After physical console games died a few years ago, all focus went to gaming PC which sell like hot cakes.

PC Gamers are fixing old retro games all the time to support modern controllers, resolutions etc.
Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc from year 2005 or something runs at 4K/60 on modern PC and the graphics aged good.

Rayman Fiesta Run and Rayman Jungle Run were originally released for phones. UBI ported them to PC back in 2022 to run at locked 1080p/60 and added support for modern controllers.
It's close to 2025 now and at this point i doubt they will port them to anything else.

UBI in general made many PC only games in recent which is typical console games, but still never were ported to any consoles. Several of these PC Games were sold for only 5$ each.

Fun fact: Steam alone, excluding GOG and Epic Store got 23000 new games in 2023...Consoles got around 2000 games.
The majority of new games are PC exclusive every year. Sure there is a lot of shovelware on PC, but consoles get lots of them too.
The most successful PC exclusives can take up to 5-6 years before they are ported to any console, and a huge amount of great exclusives are never coming to consoles at all.