Nintendo Open to Acquisitions But Ultimately Not Seeking Them Out

gamerant.com:

For better or worse, 2022 has already seen two major shake ups to the gaming industry as a whole. Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard in its entirety, which includes its own subsidiaries, and Sony has recently bought Destiny 2developer Bungie, with it already promising even more acquisitions to follow. As a result, many are looking to see if Nintendo will respond in kind, but that doesn’t look like it will be happening any time soon.

Speaking with investors, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa broached the topic of potential studio acquisitions. While it’s certainly not completely off the table, Furukawa is otherwise not that interested in just buying out other studios, with the company more focused on organically growing “Nintendo’s creative culture.”

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According to Bloomberg, 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.”

Nintendo’s outlook is hardly surprising considering it has always moved to the beat of its own drum when compared to the likes of Microsoft and Sony. It doesn’t have a particularly long history of studio buy outs to begin with. Most of its subsidiaries were founded by Nintendo, such as Retro Studios, which is responsible for Donkey Kong Country Returns and the Metroid Primegames.

The only notable acquisitions it has are Xenoblade Chronicles studio Monolith Soft, which became a subsidiary in 2007, and Canadian studio Next Level Games, which already had a strong working relationship with Nintendo. Before Nintendo bought it last year, it had made several Nintendo exclusives