Nintendo & their STRANGE approach to mergers & acquisitions

In the world of gaming giants, mergers and acquisitions are all the rage! Xbox is on a buying spree, PlayStation is snapping up studios, but why is the internet giving Nintendo a pass? This video dives deep into the Nintendo Difference when it comes to M&A. AJ explores Nintendo's business strategy and how they prioritizes collaboration over aggressive takeovers. We'll also look at some of their recent acquisitions like Shiver Entertainment and see how they fit into the bigger picture

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Intro
0:42 - It All Started with Xbox Games Studios
4:29 - Laying All Cards on the Table
6:51 - The Problem with Mergers & Acquisitions
7:45 - The Nintendo Difference
10:28 - Why Do Companies Get Acquired?
14:32 - What Happens When a Company is Acquired?
17:43 - Does Nintendo Need to Spend More to Compete?

#redirect #nintendo #mergersandacquisitions #xbox #playstation

[relevanttangent]

Remember how Nintendo scrapped Metroid Prime 4 because they were unhappy with the quality and they went back to Retro Studio like the fans wanted? The fans remember and that's why Nintendo gets a free pass.

[BulbaWhat]

When Nintendo acquires a studio, it's usually beneficial for the studio acquired rather than just the publisher. Either the studio is already so heavily tied to Nintendo that they are already Nintendo studios in a way like Next Level Games, or the studios are in the best position they've ever been because of Nintendo like with Monolith Soft

[Nicky-zznp]

I think Nintendo has the best leadership atm. They know they have a golden goose in their hands so they are very meticulous about everything. The Bandai purchase would be a huge swing that I think they don’t want nor need. Bandai is more than happy to work with Nintendo especially if the successor sells half a well as the current switch.

[trevlsteinberg]

Could you imagine Nintendo giving Bandai the keys and just letting them go full send on a pokemon project from a development standpoint???

[reuben]

Honestly I'm personally shocked that Nintendo doesn't own game freak because who knows if Microsoft buys Game freak and completely kills the studio like how Microsoft did with rare

[LookAHarryEagle]

My take: People are mad at Microsoft for trying to become a monopoly by buying these huge companies. Nintendo typically buys small studios. This is better, since it’s both an asset to Nintendo but also a safety net for these smaller studios. Bethesda or Activision function on their own, they do not need extra monetary support. Shiver was part of Embracer Group, which doesn’t need more money probably. However, instead of buying the entire group they just bought Shiver Entertainment.

[lett]

Hit the nail on the head! Personally my biggest concern with Nintendo growing has always been growing too fast and losing what makes Nintendo Nintendo. So while it's exciting when they add new studios I'm okay with them keeping a slower pace.

[markvicferrer]

Nintendo is just weird.
Imagine not owning HAL labs, Fire Emblem or Pokémon. These companies could develop their biggest games for anyone else, but simply don't. Is there any kind of business that operates like this?
If they do buy a company, they actually use their services and IP, unlike Microsoft barely using Rare IP.

[zeekay]

Nintendo usually acquires studios when the studio is in need of it or they have had a long standing relationship with Nintendo to the point where people are shocked it wasn’t acquired by them at this point. This is probably why nobody really has a problem with it. Nintendo also wouldn’t just acquire a studio without giving them at least a few projects in hopes to create a fruitful outcome and Nintendo seems to be the only company that doesn’t shy away from new IPs that aren’t a cookie cutter copy of an existing one so it is likely that they will give these studios a chance to strut their stuff in the future.

[jamesroy]

Why IDK maybe because it's not a major studio and there not gutting the studio with massive payoff unlike Microsoft Sony 2K embracer take2 etc etc

[geoffreychauvin]

It's because Nintendo doesn't buy up studios then destroy them. They bring talent into the fold essentially

[keeganmcfarland]

I'm glad that Nintendo is rarely buying studios in the best way possible!👍
God, I hope Nintendo won't follow the same fate like how Sony, Microsoft, and Disney did.
I want Nintendo to do better than Sony, Microsoft, and Disney!
I also hope that Japan doesn't get infested by layoffs in the future.

[emptyvessel]

Nintendo purchases a studio you get Xenoblade chronicles. Any other company does you get Anthem*

[TheXtremeBoltGuy]

We actually TRUST Nintendo with this stuff. Sony and Microsoft have proven themselves ABYSMAL when it comes to acquisitions

[darcidious]

Pretty simple IMO, we see microsoft buy up every studio under the sun and what happens? They don't get advertised properly like Hi Fi Rush and hellblade 2 (yes hellblade 2 is actually out and you'd be forgiven for not knowing that), and the studios are cannibalized for temporary influx of gamespass subscriptions only to be done away with when it actually comes time to support them like with Tango. You also have horrible leadership and management issues, redfall should have been cancelled as soon as the talent started leaving because the upper management was doing absolutely fuck all, but they still released that pigslop onto the market with a straight face. Sony bought out bungie and the only thing Ive heard is that bungie has basically made destiny 2 into a husk of what it used to be, the only other thing is that maybe some of the bungie people were helping on Concord, a Temu version of Overwatch that will be DOA cause everyone already hates it.

Meanwhile, Nintendo has only bought 2 noteworthy companies in recent years which were next level games and this new one. Next level has repeatedly shown their worth with luigis mansion 3 and the mario strikers games (battle league sucked but it was clear that the talent wasnt the issue, it was very high quality just barren in the OG charm and gameplay options available). This new studio seems very prominent on their ability to port games like hogwarts legacy and mortal kombat 1 (Im aware that MK1 on switch is a meme but the fact that it even exists is still pretty impressive). Nintendo is selective and intelligent in what they buy; porting is a massive part of the switch's success and likely will be for the next system, so having competent port studios is important for them. Microsoft in comparison has 0 clue what they're doing other than pushing out gamepass which in turn means studios lose money and get the axe.

I'm also absolutely definitely 100% not biased against microsoft or xbox... Not even one little bit👀

[lysergicserpent]

Important context regarding the Square Enix, Sega and PlayStation layoffs: most, if not all, of those layoffs came for development and PR positions within Western subsidiaries those companies own and operate.

[uwuAki]

I will push back on Bandai Namco on the sole reason that, you do not understand the scale at which Bandai Namco operates. If its some of the Gaming Studios that Bandai has, then maybe sure but the entire company would be detrimental to both Nintendo and health of Japanese Media.
Maybe if Bandai is no longer interested in development of Video Games in general that would be fine but you forget the Animation Side, the Merchandise Side and other Businesses Bandai Namco a large conglomerate has that would not be useful for Gaming but they would also acquire Bandai's Baggage of owning/having the contract of a lot of things and mismanagement of those IPs.

[Mdk]

Nintendo losing Rare felt like a mistake regardless of the outcome given how they are viewed now a days and it’s not nice. The same can be said for intelligence systems and how Nintendo let them down. Regardless of the reasons not to. I mean they helped Nintendo expand their gaming base and this is the thanks they got for their efforts ?

[lordlopes]

Tbh Nintendo buying a studio is the least worst thing in the gaming community.
Nintendo is the only one today who is not firing a lot of people and ending studios back to back.

[silentbilly]

Probably because nintendo still sells sequels to the same ips they had when they first started basically even if they're not consistent like fzero is like the longest hiatus for an actual game to buy that I can think of and they will cut leadership pay instead of firing people unlike sony and xbox who trash whole studios and ips due to minor issues like not meeting sales expectations exact everytime or not getting pointless awards that Mean absolutely nothing compared to people buying the games