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Nintendo could partner up with more developers to make mobile games

"If we find other partners that can bring unique strengths that are not found within Nintendo, then we may work with them as well"

Nintendo could partner up with more developers to make mobile games

Nintendo is open to partnering up with yet more developers to expand its mobile games business, says its outgoing president Tatsumi Kimishima.

Nintendo has already worked with Japanese publisher DENA on titles such as Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes.

It also recently acquired a five per cent stake in Cygames, which is developing a brand new mobile IP called Dragalia Lost.

Speaking during the company’s financials Q&A, Kimishima said “there is the possibility that we will join with other partners to further expand our smart-device business if needed”.

Fuelling growth

He later added that Nintendo’s ambition is to make its mobile games operations one of its pillars of revenue. Indeed, incoming president Shuntaro Furukawa recently said he hoped to turn it into a $1 billion a year business.

To help it do that, Nintendo is looking to external partners.

“It is not enough to simply expand our in-house development resources to acheive these goals, so we have been looking for teams outside of the company that we find interesting and we can work with on development,” said Kimishima.

“We felt that the application being designed by Cygames called Dragalia Lost is interesting, and that it aligned well with Nintendo’s concept, so we forged the business partnership with Cygames on the idea that it would enhance our own development resources for smart-device applications going forward.

“And to reiterate, we have built a very good relationship with DENA that we intend to maintain. If we find other partners that can bring unique strengths that are not found within Nintendo, then we may work with them as well.”

During the Q&A, Kimishima credited Nintendo's mobile growth with strong Switch console sales, particularly in Asia and the Middle East.

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Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.