MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
DeNA approached Nintendo to bring the console firm’s vast IP to mobile in 2010.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata explained in a Q&A how DeNA president Isao Moriyasu approached the firm in June 2010 proposing a collaboration between the two firms. Talks continued over the years and led to concrete plans being formed last summer on how a partnership would work.
Yesterday the two companies publicly announced they would be working together on a raft of new mobile games. The first of these is expected by the end of the year.
“At some point in the past, I realised that there would be great potential for global synergy by combining the efforts of the two companies, as we would face dynamic environmental changes,” said Iwata.
“Since then, in addition to my discussions with Mr. Moriyasu, key persons from both companies have been discussing these possibilities.
“As a result, we have concluded that we will be able to create great synergies by forming a business alliance and leveraging the two companies’ strengths.”
Iwata said bringing its famous IP to mobile and tablet would provide a “stress-free” way for consumers to play its games, and added it "would be a waste not to use these devices”.
“Very simply put, it is structurally the same as when Nintendo, which was founded 125 years ago when there were no TVs, started to aggressively take advantage of TV as a communication channel,” said Iwata.
“Now that smart devices have grown to become the window for so many people to personally connect with society, it would be a waste not to use these devices.
Iwata went on to say that its mobile plans would feed into its next console, codenamed NX. He claimed targeting smart devices would not hurt its dedicated console business, which it plans to keep, but rather increase demand.
“For the consumers who are connected with Nintendo through smart devices and interested in Nintendo’s IP, we would like to provide even more premium gameplay experiences on Nintendo’s dedicated game platforms,” he said.
“By taking this approach, we firmly believe that doing business on smart devices will not shrink our dedicated video game system business and will instead create new demand as this broader reach will enable us to provide consumers around the world with more opportunities to experience the appeal of Nintendo IP, and instead of trying to seize the other’s demand, dedicated video game systems and smart devices will benefit from the synergies created between them.”
