Nintendo has confirmed they won’t be joining Sony and Microsoft’s rush to acquire more third-party studios.
As Sony and Microsoft engage in an arms race of third-party acquisitions, Nintendo has revealed they won’t be joining the fray. Instead, the Japanese gaming giant will continue with their own separate strategy throughout 2022 and beyond, regardless of how intense the buyout drama gets between their two biggest competitors.
As originally reported by Bloomberg, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has confirmed that the company won’t be making any large third-party acquisitions in the way that Sony and Microsoft have in the past twelve months.
Nintendo President on future acquisitions
Furukawa confirmed this statement during an investor call where he said: “Our brand was built upon products crafted with dedication by our employees, and having a large number of people who don’t possess Nintendo DNA in our group would not be a plus to the company.”
The Nintendo President didn’t rule out the purchase of smaller studios, such as the developers behind Luigi’s Mansion 3, Next Level Games. However, he was keen to stress that Nintendo will not be reacting to Microsoft and Sony’s recent moves with any of their own, instead the company will remain focused on their existing assets.
“I really have a hard time imagining which of the big ones they could even be interested in buying. Nintendo will always stay Nintendo. The company has always relied on first-party games, and I don’t see any reason why they should change.”
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What major Microsoft and Sony acquisitions?
The news comes after Microsoft shocked the gaming world in 2021 with the revelation that they had acquired ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. This meant that games like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and the upcoming Starfield could all potentially become Xbox exclusives going forward.
Earlier in 2022, Microsoft then purchased Call of Duty publisher Activision, along with World of Warcraft developers Blizzard, who form part of the Activision family. In January 2022, Sony responded by purchasing Bungie, creators of the Destiny franchise and the original developers of the Halo series.
Why is Nintendo avoiding large acquisitions?
Nintendo’s confirmation that they have no interest in major third-party acquisitions is surprising. Each publisher that gets bought by their rivals potentially shuts them out when it comes to releasing their games on the Nintendo Switch or its successors.
However, Nintendo has a history of doing their own thing when their competitors battle for dominance in a given arena. The Nintendo Wii was an example of Nintendo pursuing innovation instead of barrelling down the road of HD gaming. Or with a renewed focus on online play like Sony and Microsoft did with the PS3 and Xbox 360.
The Nintendo Switch also went against the grain, offering a portable console hybrid instead of venturing down the path of 4K gaming like Sony and Microsoft. The Switch may also not be a suitable console for such grand acquisitions, meaning such an investment could be seen as unwise on Nintendo’s part – at least for now.