Nintendo Explains Why Acquisitions Aren’t Always Best

Nintendo has commented on the possibility of acquiring more companies, saying that while it is considering all options, the Mario maker would prefer to “organically expand” instead.

As part of Nintendo’s latest earnings announcement, the company said “we do not rule out the possibility of further mergers and acquisitions.” At the same time, though, Nintendo said its priority is on the aforementioned organic expansion, and for a good reason.

Nintendo said organic expansion allows new staff to “fully learn and understand our creative culture,” whereas this might be more challenging if Nintendo simply bought a company outright.

Nintendo has made a number of acquisitions since 2021, including Next Level Games, SRD, and Shiver in the world of game development. Nintendo also expanded by way of creating Nintendo Pictures, which is the company’s new division responsible for helping to adapt its franchises for film and TV.

Some of the other companies that Nintendo owns include Monolith Soft, Retro Studios, iQue, and 1-Up Studio, among others.

The Nintendo Switch is Nintendo’s most successful home platform ever, with 146 million units sold (the portable DS outsold it with 154 million units), and hopes are high for the Switch 2. Nintendo recently reconfirmed that the Switch 2, or whatever the system will be called, will be announced by April 2025 and that it will support games from the existing Switch.