Nintendo Isn't Ruling Out Acquiring Companies, But Will Prioritise Investing In Its Existing Studios

Nintendo has said that it won't rule out acquiring new companies in the future, but has stated that it is currently prioritizing investment in its existing studios.

As part of a recently published Company Management briefing, Nintendo spoke about its investment strategies going forward and how it will look to spend in the future. The publisher noted that due to the success of the Nintendo Switch exceeding its expectations across the last few years, it has been left in a position where it is able to "reconsider how to most effectively utilize [its] cash in a variety of strategic and meaningful ways".

With money to invest, the company says that its mid-to-long term plan revolves around two broad areas: building software assets and developing ways to expand its relationships with consumers. Where those software assets include games, Nintendo has stated that its "first priority is to organically expand [its] own organization to continue Nintendo's creative culture." Despite a focus on developing its pre-existing studios, the publisher didn't fully rule out the possibility of purchasing further companies in the future explaining that it was "not dismissing the possibility of M&A [merger and acquisition] activities".

While rival publishers such as Sony have been increasingly active when it comes to buying up various smaller studios across the industry, Nintendo has opted to stay far more reserved in its approach. The company's most notable acquisition of late came back in January where it announced that it had purchased Luigi's Mansion 3 developer, Next Level Games.

A working relationship between Nintendo and Next Level Games spans back to 2005, where they worked together to release Super Mario Strikers for the Gamecube. Since then, Next Level Games has developed a number of further games for Nintendo consoles including the likes of Punch-Out!! for the Nintendo Wii and Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the Nintendo 3DS.

Elsewhere in the Company Management briefing, Nintendo detailed its plans to expand and improve on its Switch Online service as well as its recently released premium Expansion Pack. For more from Nintendo, take a look at this article detailing the Nintendo hacker who pled guilty to piracy charges.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

source https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-acquisition-studio-investment