Nintendo Acquires SRD for 50 Million Yen

Nintendo has just announced in a press release that it has acquired SRD for 50 Million Yen (440k USD). SRD is a Japanese studio that has supported development for many Nintendo titles from as far back as the Famicom. Their repertoire most notably includes various Animal Crossing titles as well as Super Smash Bros. 

This could be a start in a series of acquisitions of various talents that have developed games for Nintendo as a response to the rapid acquisitions made by companies like Microsoft and Sony. One of the biggest headlines of last year was Microsoft’s acquisition of the entirety of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 Billion. Another major headline of 2022 was back in January when Sony responded by acquiring developers of the Destiny/Halo series Bungie.

On a different note, this is one of those acquisitions that come out of nowhere in a very funny way. SRD is a studio that has been working almost exclusively on Nintendo titles since the 80s and are even located inside Nintendo’s own HQ, this is a studio that most people would have thought Nintendo already owned.

While Sony and Microsoft have been going at it for the winner this generation, Nintendo continues to maintain its momentum. With extremely successful titles like Pokemon: Legends Arceus and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, as well as other major titles on the horizon like Breath of The Wild 2, Splatoon 3 and Bayonetta 3, Nintendo has little to fear in terms of success. 

While we can not definitively claim whether this is going to cause a chain reaction of acquisitions considering the relatively small scale of this one, if it does to prove to be the case, expect a lot of surprising acquisitions of studios that many would have already considered to be owned by Nintendo.