The Embracer group has broken into a thousand (three) pieces, but the studios have not said their last word. One of them has just been bought by none other than Nintendo. It is Shiver Entertainment, a modest studio that is rather familiar with the Big N ecosystem. Indeed, Shiver Entertainment is the studio behind the recent ports of Mortal Kombat 1 and Hogwarts Legacy on Nintendo Switch.
Some ports have achieved their goal, but we cannot say that the quality of all the titles has been impeccable. It is certainly complicated to work with a machine as underperforming (by industry standards) as the Nintendo Switch, which is why a direct tie-up with Nintendo could be beneficial.
Even more ports on the Switch 2?
This acquisition could mean several things. In the future, Nintendo could significantly increase the quantity, but also the quality, of ports on its consoles. Gamers are no doubt aware that the Nintendo Switch 2 has just been made official, and that it is expected to be released in spring 2025. It promises to be much more powerful, which could allow it to compete with the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles.
If this is the case, then the Nintendo Switch 2 will be able to easily accommodate large AAA titles, and it will take an experienced team to successfully carry out the ports. Shiver Entertainment has experience in this area, so this choice is not so surprising. Nintendo's acquisitions are so scattered compared to those of its competitors that it is necessarily a strategic choice thought out over the long term.
The most discreet empire of all
We also remember that Shuntaro Furukawa, the president of Nintendo, gave some contextual details during his call to investors on the occasion of the studio's last financial report. Acquisitions of external studios are not really part of the firm's DNA, but a few exceptions sometimes punctuate the quiet course of the Nintendo river. He declared: :
“Although development resources may be increased through mergers and acquisitions, we will first work within the company with our developers, who fully understand the Nintendo brand and have developed it over the years, to enable them to cultivate talents capable of driving Nintendo's future development. In addition, many of our external partners have gained in-depth knowledge of Nintendo's way of thinking and game development methods over their many years of collaboration, and we would like to strengthen our ties with these partners.
[…] The game development process will inevitably become longer, more complex, and more advanced. It is essential that Nintendo offers consumers new and unique experiences through game development, which is why we will actively invest in expanding our development resources.
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