Nintendo doesn't want to buy companies, but it may have to | Opinion

gamesindustry.biz:

Christopher Dring

Head of Games B2B

Tuesday 15th February 2022

Nintendo

"When we say we do not do [mergers and acquisitions], there are always exceptions," said Nintendo's legendary CEO Satoru Iwata back in 2008.

"We are not against M&A if Nintendo can absorb the real value of the company. However, in most cases, the value of software developing companies is attached to its people, not the company, which is merely a vessel for its people. So, when we purchase a company, we can purchase the vessel, but we cannot necessarily purchase the contents. Even if we should compete with others to purchase a software company, although we might be able to increase the sheer number of our developers and to gain a short-term result, we do not think it will do good for us in the long run. We have been repeatedly saying that we will not do that kind of M&A."

Iwata's comment was part of an investor Q&A when he was asked to explain the decision for buying the developer Monolith Soft from Bandai Namco.

"Nintendo may need to open its recently inflated wallet, but don't expect it to break its philosophy to do so"

"Mr Sugiura, the president [of Monolith], and Nintendo have a long-term relationship," Iwata explained. "How Mr Sugiura thinks is close to how Nintendo thinks. The software Mr Sugiura would like to create is in line with what Nintendo would like to have for its platform. So, we thought that Nintendo should support this idea, and we decided to take action.

"If certain conditions are met, we may do the same thing in the future. However, we will be very careful and selective, so that we will only partner with people with whom Nintendo can create a long-term working relationship."

Monolith is a unique acquisition in that it was one Nintendo