Nintendo's Latest Acquisition Is an Unusual One
In a time where video game companies are making tons of major acquisitions, Nintendo has just announced a new purchase worth nearly $40 million dollars. However, the company did not actually purchase any new development teams, or outside publishers! Instead, that money was spent on purchasing land adjacent to the company's headquarters in Kyoto, Japan. According to a press release from the company, the land will become the site for "Corporate Headquarters Development Center, Building No. 2," which will be used to bolster the company's current research and development.
"Along with the R&D investments and capital investments, Nintendo believes acquiring and utilizing this land will carry an important role on reinforcing its R&D," the company states in a press release.
The new development center will no doubt help Nintendo to work on creating new hardware and software. The deal certainly isn't the most exciting one in the world, but it shows how Nintendo continues to invest in its future as a video game company. Given the massive success of the Nintendo Switch platform, it makes sense that Nintendo would need to continue to invest in itself. Considering how bleak things were in the Wii U era, where pundits were constantly musing whether Nintendo might leave the hardware business, it certainly bodes well for the future.
Nintendo has always had its own way of doing things, and it tends to work on improvements from within, while forming partnerships with smaller companies. While Sony and Microsoft have been spending billions on purchasing larger studios, Nintendo has opted to make smaller purchases that yield big benefits. Last year, the company purchased developer Next Level Games. With just 117 employees, Next Level Games might not have seemed like a big deal, but it made sense for Nintendo; the studio developed Luigi's Mansion 3, which has sold more than 11 million copies on Nintendo Switch. Nintendo is never going to be the kind of company that buys companies like Activision Blizzard or Bungie, but it clearly doesn't have to!
Are you happy to see Nintendo investing more in R&D? What do you think of the company's current direction? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!