They have nearly a billion dollars to improve their first-party studios, and it’s not a surprise: the Nintendo Switch is rapidly closing in on 100 million sales.
After Microsoft, Sony has gone on an acquisition rampage (Housemarque, Bluepoint Games, Nixxes Software, Firesprite), and shortly, Nintendo might follow suit, according to their quarterly financial earnings report. It reveals the big N has up to 100 billion yen (900 million USD) to expand the internal studios’ development capabilities.
“We aim to expand our game development frameworks inside the Nintendo group. We are not dismissing the possibility of [merger and acquisition] activities, but our priority is to organically expand our organization to continue Nintendo’s creative culture. In addition, we will pursue opportunities in non-game entertainment businesses that have a high affinity with the game business. To that end, we will work to build software assets in fields other than games. We will also work to develop new video content, following on from the Super Mario movie,” Nintendo wrote.
Additionally, they plan to spend 300 billion JPY (about 2.7 billion USD!) on user experiences and services. The big N wants to expand the Nintendo Switch Online further and create a new, unique user infrastructure and improve the digital stores and the My Nintendo service. (It sounds like Nintendo might have an alternative to Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus, or they might go after subscription services, such as Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Now, or EA Play.)
Nintendo Switch (which sold 92.87 million units by September 30, meaning the new OLED model isn’t even included, which is why the big N might crack 100 million units by the end of the calendar year; hitting this milestone WILL be hit by the end of the fiscal year, or March 2022 if you prefer) Online had 32 million subscribers by the end of September. The previous publicly disclosed figure was 26 million a year before that. “As we advance, we will continue to improve and expand both Nintendo Switch Online and Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, striving to provide services that satisfy customers,” Nintendo said.
What’s the Expansion Pack tier in Nintendo Switch Online? It allows you to play SEGA Genesis (or Mega Drive) and the somewhat poorly emulated Nintendo 64 games, plus it gives you free access to the killer app Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ Happy Home Paradise DLC. The N64 games still need a lot of improvement; see this comparison video below.
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