With the advent of Nintendo's new console, growing mobile initiative, and continued support of the 3DS platform - it seems like there has never been a more exciting time to be a Nintendo fan. This upcoming wave of releases - across all three platforms - also officially welcomes the new era of Nintendo R&D management, that sees the largest arrangement of in-house developers working under the vision of one man - Shinya Takahashi.
THE DEVELOPERS
The core development force of Nintendo, with multiple production groups scattered across their main R&D plants in Kyoto and Tokyo. The personnel totals around 800 game developers that range from fresh recruits, to industry pioneers who worked on the original Famicom. While the internal R&D groups mainly focus on developing Nintendo's biggest franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and Mario Kart - there is also a significant chunk of resources exclusively dedicated to creating new IPs or experiences like Miitopia, Nintendo Labo, 1-2 Switch, and Miitomo.
■ Nintendo EPD - Production Group No. 1 (External R&D)
■ Manager / Producer - Hitoshi Yamagami
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, XenoBlade Chronicles X, Kirby: Star Allies, Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! / Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!
■ Current: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
■ Nintendo EPD - Production Group No. 2 (External R&D)
■ Manager / Producer - Toshiharu Izuno
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Mario Sports: Superstar, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga +, Mario Tennis Aces, Super Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
■ Current: ??
■ Nintendo EPD - Production Group No. 3 (Internal R&D) *
■ Manager / Producer - Eiji Aonuma
■ Project Leads: Hidemaro Fujibayashi, Daiki Iwamoto, Makoto Miyanaga
■ Releases: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
■ Current: ??
■ Nintendo EPD - Production Group No. 4 (Internal R&D)
■ Manager / Producer - Kouichi Kawamoto
■ Project Leads: Norihiro Ito, Tsubasa Sakaguchi
■ Releases: Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, Nintendo Badge Arcade, Miitopia, 1-2 Switch, Nintendo Labo
■ Current: ??
■ Nintendo EPD - Production Group No. 5 (Internal R&D) *
■ Manager / Producer - Hisashi Nogami
■ Project Leads: Aya Kyogoku, Yusuke Amano
■ Releases: Splatoon, Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome Amiibo, Splatoon 2
■ Current: Animal Crossing
■ Nintendo EPD - Production Group No. 6 (External R&D) *
■ Manager / Producer - Kensuke Tanabe
■ Project Leads: Akiya Sakamoto, Goro Abe
■ Releases: Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Paper Mario: Color Splash, WarioWare Gold
■ Current: Metroid Prime 4, Luigi's Mansion 3
■ Nintendo EPD - Production Group No. 7 (Internal R&D)
■ Manager / Producer - Katsuya Yamano
■ Project Leads: Takehiko Hosokawa, Ryutaro Takahashi, Masami Yone
■ Releases: Tomodachi Life, Rhythm Heaven Megamix, Miitomo, Metroid: Samus Returns
■ Current: ??
■ Nintendo EPD - Production Group No. 8 (Internal R&D)
■ Manager / Producer - Koichi Hayashida
■ Project Leads: Kentaro Motokura, Shinya Hiratake, Futoshi Shirai
■ Releases: Ultimate NES Remix, Super Mario Odyssey, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
■ Current: ??
■ Nintendo EPD - Production Group No. 9 (Internal R&D)
■ Manager / Producer - Kosuke Yabuki
■ Project Leads: Masaaki Iwasaki, Kenta Sato, Kentaro Nishimura
■ Releases: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Arms
■ Current: ??
■ Nintendo EPD - Production Group No. 10 (Internal R&D) *
■ Manager / Producer - Hiroyuki Kimura
■ Project Leads: ?
■ Releases: Pikmin 3, Super Mario Maker, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, Super Mario Run, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
■ Current: ??
■ Nintendo EPD - Smart Device Production Group (External R&D)
■ Manager / Producer - Hideki Konno
■ Project Leads: ?
■ Releases: Fire Emblem Heroes, Dragalia Lost
■ Current: ??
Monolith Soft Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary development company of Nintendo Co., Ltd. With a staff of about 180 personnel, it's main Japan-based offices are located in Tokyo and Kyoto . The developer is mainly responsible for the XenoBlade series, but has also dedicated several resources to product art assets in cooperation with main Nintendo Co., Ltd in-house titles.
■ Monolith Soft Co., Ltd.
■ President - Hirohide Sugiura
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Xenoblade Chronicles X, Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country
■ Current: ??
ND Cube Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary development company of Nintendo Co., Ltd. With a staff of about 140 personnel, it's main Japan-based offices are located in Tokyo and Sapporo . The developer is responsible for a variety of mini-game compilations including the Mario Party and Wii Party series.
■ ND Cube Co., Ltd.
■ President - Hidetoshi Endo
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Mario Party: The Top 100, Super Mario Party
■ Current: ??
Genius Sonority began operations in July 2001, for the original purpose of developing
Pokémon games for home consoles and was officially incorporated in June 2002, with funding provided by Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi's Q Fund, a cash reserve used for Nintendo game company start-ups. Current shareholders of the company include Yamana Satoru, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company. The company's founder and current president, Manabu Yamana, is best known as a key person at Heartbeat, a company that developed games in the
Dragon Quest series for Enix.
■ Genius Sonority Co., Ltd. .
■ President - Manabu Yamana
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Pokémon Colosseum (2003), Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness (2005), Pokémon Trozei! (2006), Pokémon Battle Revolution (2007), Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (2007), 100 Classic Book Collection, Pokémon Battle Trozei (2014) The Denpa Men RPG Free! (2014), Pokémon Shuffle (2015)
■ Current: ??
HAL Laboratory Inc. is a long-time affiliated/contracted developer for Nintendo Co., Ltd. With a staff of about 150 personnel, it's main location is in Tokyo, Japan. The developer is responsible for the Kirby series, and also helps create system tools for Nintendo's hardware.
■ HAL Laboratory Inc.
■ President - Shigefumi Kawase
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Kirby: Planet Robobot, Kirby: Star Allies
■ Current: ??
Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd. is a long-time affiliated/contracted developer for Nintendo Co., Ltd. With a staff of about 140 personnel, it's main location is in Kyoto, Japan. The developer is responsible for the Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and Paper Mario series, and also helps create system tools for Nintendo's hardware.
■ Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd.
■ President - Toshiyuki Nakamura
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Fire Emblem Fates, Fire Emblem Heroes, WarioWare Gold
■ Current: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Retro Studios Inc. is an American video game developer and subsidiary of Nintendo based in Austin, Texas. Retro was founded on September 21, 1998 as an alliance between Nintendo and former Iguana Entertainment founder Jeff Spangenberg, hoping to create titles for the then-upcoming GameCube aiming at an older demographic. The studio is best known for its work on the Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country series.
■ Retro Studios Inc.
■ President - Michael Kelbaugh
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Metroid Prime Trilogy, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze
■ Current: Metroid Prime 4
Nintendo Software Technology Corp. is an American video game developer and subsidiary of Nintendo based in Redmond, Washington. NST was created by Nintendo as a first-party developer to create games for the North American market, though their games have also been released in other territories such as Europe and Japan. Although the development team is based in North America, there is a traditional Nintendo and Japanese-centric design applied to the development of the software.
■ Nintendo Software Technology Corp.
■ President - Shigeki Yamashiro
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Metroid Prime Hunters, Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge, Super Mario Maker for 3DS, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (3DS)
■ Current: ??
Next Level Games Inc. is a Canadian video game developer that is currently contracted to Nintendo Co., Ltd for the development of first-party games. The developer is located in Vancouver, Canada. The company is best known for its work with Nintendo, having released three games that have been branded into the Nintendo Selects series of most popular titles for its system: Mario Strikers and Punch-Out!! for the Wii and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the Nintendo 3DS.
■ Next Level Games Inc.
■ President - Douglas Tronsgard
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Super Mario Strikers, Punch-Out!!, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Metroid Prime Hunters: Federation Force
■ Current: Luigi's Mansion 3
Grezzo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer that has closely worked with Nintendo since it was founded in December 2006. Koichi Ishii, originally known for his work on the
Mana series of games by Square Enix, was hired as CEO and president of the company in April 2007.
■ Grezzo Co., Ltd. .
■ President - Koichi Ishii
■ Project Leads:
■ Releases: Line Attack Heroes, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, Ever Oasis, Luigi's Mansion for Nintendo 3DS
■ Current: ??
