Nintendo Acquires a Game Developer You've Probably Never Heard of

pcmag.com:

It turns out Nintendo isn't sitting idly by while Microsoft and Sony spend billions acquiring well-known game studios.

As VGC reports, Nintendo of Japan released a document yesterday confirming it has acquired game developer SRD Co. Ltd, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary when the acquisition closes on April 1. You'd be forgiven for not knowing who SRD is, but it turns out the company has played a key role in Nintendo game development for the past 40 years.

A quick look at the SRD website reveals the company, which employs around 140 people, has been acting as a contract developer for Nintendo since 1982. Its work spans some of the most important Nintendo franchises, including Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, Mario, Zelda, and the Wii Fit games (even Ring Fit). The first game SRD worked on for Nintendo looks to be the 1983 NES version of Donkey Kong.

Back in December, Nintendo announced plans to add a new building to its Kyoto Research Center with a view to creating more games in-house. The SRD acquisition seems to be a key part of this expansion, with Nintendo stating:

"Completion of the Acquisition will serve to strengthen the management base of SRD and secure the availability of software development resources for Nintendo, in addition to facilitating an anticipated improvement in software development efficiency."

So while Microsoft and Sony have some busy months and even years ahead integrating third-party teams into their ecosystem, Nintendo ensures a team of veterans with four decades of experience working with the company can keep doing what they're doing. I imagine it didn't cost Nintendo billions to retain this talent, either.

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