Nintendo acquiring long-time development partner SRD
Second studio buyout in just over a year.
Nintendo is dipping its toe into this year's studio acquisition frenzy, with the announcement it will acquire long-running development partner SRD Co. Ltd.
The Tokyo-based studio will be purchased for an undisclosed sum, and become part of Nintendo from 1st April this year.
SRD has assisted Nintendo in the development of numerous games, most recently including Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Switch, plus Mario Kart Tour for smartphone.
The studio's partnership with Nintendo extends back decades - to the NES days of Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros.
It has also been involved in some of Nintendo's more experimental projects, such as last year's Game Builder Garage and the Switch's cardboard accessory product line Nintendo Labo.
SRD will be the second studio acquisition in just over a year from Nintendo - a company not known for buying external developers.
Back in January 2021, Nintendo announced it would purchase Vancover-based Luigi's Mansion 3 studio Next Level Games, which is now making the next Mario Strikers title.
Earlier this month, Nintendo's boss Shuntaro Furukawa told investors not to expect any acquisitions which did not "possess Nintendo DNA" already. It's fair to say SRD passes this test.
It's been a month since Sony announced it was buying Destiny developed Bungie for $3.6bn - the sixth studio it has snapped up since the start of 2021. In January, Microsoft announced its plan to purchase Activision Blizzard for an eye-watering $69bn. Meanwhile, GTA and Borderlands publisher Take-Two announced a $12.7bn buyout of mobile giant Zynga.
