Nintendo moves into smartphone apps
March 17, 2015
By Nik Roseveare
Video games giant Nintendo and online services company DeNA have entered into a business and capital alliance to develop and operate new game apps for smart devices and build a new multi-device membership service for consumers worldwide.
Leveraging the strength of Nintendo’s intellectual property (IP) and game development skills in combination with DeNA’s expertise in mobile games, both companies will develop and operate new game apps based on Nintendo’s IP, including its iconic game characters such as Mario and Link, for smart devices.
The alliance is intended to complement Nintendo’s dedicated video game systems business and extend Nintendo’s reach into the vast market of smart device users worldwide. Under the alliance, DeNA will also be able to strengthen its gaming business at a global scale by leveraging Nintendo’s IP. Only new original games optimised for smart device functionality will be created, rather than porting games created specifically for the Wii U home console or the Nintendo 3DS portable system.
As part of the long-term relationship and commitment by each company, Nintendo and DeNA have also agreed to form a capital alliance. Under the capital alliance, Nintendo will acquire 15,081,000 of DeNA’s treasury shares, which corresponds to 10 per cent of its total outstanding stock, for a total of approximately 22 billion yen. DeNA will simultaneously acquire 1,759,400 of Nintendo’s treasury shares, which corresponds to 1.24 per cent of its outstanding stock, for a total of approximately 22 billion yen.