On January 5, Nintendo announced it planned on acquiring Next Level Games, a Canadian-based developer that had been working closely alongside the company for the past decade. Next Level Games’ most recent release, Luigi’s Mansion 3, has been a huge sales success for Nintendo and earned a great deal of critical acclaim as well, so it makes sense for Nintendo to bring the studio into the fold in an official capacity.
Next Level Games was reportedly looking to sell, which is why Nintendo made the move. Next Level Game is a proven asset for Nintendo, and it wants the studio to keep producing high-selling, critically-acclaimed games as Nintendo Switch exclusives. However, there are many other studios that Nintendo works closely with that it has not acquired, and it may be in its best interest to do so at some point down the line.
While Nintendo has been content to simply work alongside these studios, direct ownership could be advantageous. Here are some studios that Nintendo may want to consider acquiring at some point in the future.
Even some of the biggest Nintendo fans may be surprised to learn that the company doesn’t actually own Game Freak, the studio that develops the main series Pokemon games. Nintendo has had a close relationship with Game Freak ever since the release of the original Pokemon games in the 90s, and so the vast majority of the studio’s titles have been released as Nintendo exclusive games. However, Game Freak has occasionally branched out, securing publishing deals with other companies and making titles for non-Nintendo platforms.
Theoretically, Game Freak could find itself bought out by some other company, which would mean Nintendo would lose its Pokemon developer. Plus, Game Freak and Nintendo already share a building in Tokyo, so it’s not like the Game Freak offices would need to move or anything. The fact that Nintendo hasn’t acquired Game Freak already is odd, so it would make sense for it to happen at some point down the line.
Koichi Ishii’s Grezzo is not owned by Nintendo, yet every single game that the company has released so far has been released on a Nintendo platform. While a couple of Grezzo’s games have found their way on PlayStation 4, it has otherwise released games exclusively for the Wii, 3DS, DSi, and most recently, the Nintendo Switch. Not only that, but Grezzo has actually been entrusted with working on one of Nintendo’s most valuable IPs in the form of The Legend of Zelda franchise.
Grezzo was entrusted to work on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for the 3DS, and in 2019, developed the acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake for the Switch. With Nintendo already letting Grezzo work on its biggest franchises, it seems like it would make sense to add it to the Nintendo family. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but fans can look forward to many more Grezzo games coming to Nintendo platforms regardless.
Independent Japanese game developer HAL Laboratory has been closely associated with Nintendo for decades, yet is not officially a studio owned by the Big N. HAL Laboratory and Nintendo have such a closely-tied history that this is another case of it being surprising that Nintendo hasn’t gone ahead and acquired the studio. Maybe Nintendo doesn’t feel the need to acquire HAL Laboratory since the company develops games exclusively for Nintendo platforms anyway, but it would still help strengthen Nintendo’s brand.
HAL Laboratory has primarily worked on the Kirby franchise over the years, but it has also worked to create some completely original games for Nintendo as well. HAL Laboratory is almost certainly hard at work on more Nintendo exclusives, but it may be in Nintendo’s best interest to acquire the studio and guarantee that all its future games are released exclusively on Nintendo platforms.
Intelligent Systems is yet another studio that has practically developed games exclusively for Nintendo, yet has not actually been acquired by the company. Intelligent Systems has worked on some of Nintendo’s biggest and most popular franchises over the years, including Paper Mario and Fire Emblem. In 2019, Intelligent Systems launched Fire Emblem: Three Houses to critical acclaim, and in 2020, it released Paper Mario: Origami King to mostly positive reviews as well. Intelligent Systems’ track record speaks for itself, and by acquiring it, Nintendo could keep any of its competitors from snatching it up.
This is a longshot, but Nintendo acquiring PlatinumGames would be a huge acquisition, on the level of Sony and Microsoft acquisitions in recent years. PlatinumGames has a proven track record of producing acclaimed video games, and it has some strong IP that it has developed over the years. Platinum also has a strong relationship with Nintendo, having developed games like Astral Chain and Bayonetta 2 as Nintendo exclusive titles. PlatinumGames is currently busy working on Bayonetta 3 as a Switch exclusive, and so it seems the relationship between the two companies will remain strong, even if Nintendo doesn’t make a move to acquire it.
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