List of Nintendo development teams

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List of Nintendo development teams

Number of locations	Japan, United States, France, China, Canada
Services	Nintendo Network
Parent	Nintendo
Divisions	Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Nintendo Platform Technology Development Nintendo Business Development
Subsidiaries	1-Up Studio iQue Monolith Soft NDcube Next Level Games Nintendo European Research & Development Nintendo Network Service Database Nintendo Software Technology Nintendo Technology Development Retro Studios

Nintendo is one of the world's biggest video game development companies, having created several successful franchises. Because of its storied history, the developer employs a methodical system of software and hardware development that is mainly centralized within its offices in Kyoto and Tokyo, in cooperation with its division Nintendo of America in Redmond, Washington. The company also owns several worldwide subsidiaries and funds partner affiliates that contribute technology and software for the Nintendo brand.^[1][2]

Main offices[]

Nintendo (NCL) has a central office located in Minami-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (

34°58′11.89″N 135°45′22.33″E / 34.9699694°N 135.7562028°E / 34.9699694; 135.7562028) and a nearby building, its pre-2000 headquarters, now serving as a research and development building, located in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (

 WikiMiniAtlas

34°58′29.00″N 135°46′10.48″E / 34.9747222°N 135.7695778°E / 34.9747222; 135.7695778). Its original Kyoto headquarters can still be found at (

 WikiMiniAtlas

34°59′30.03″N 135°45′58.66″E / 34.9916750°N 135.7662944°E / 34.9916750; 135.7662944). Additionally, Nintendo has a third operation in Tokyo, Japan, where research and development and manufacturing are conducted. All three offices are interconnected and have video conferences often for communication and presentation purposes.

In 2009, it was revealed that Nintendo was expanding both its Redmond and Kyoto offices. The new office building complex of Nintendo of America in Redmond is 275,250 square feet (25,572 m²) and would expand its localization, development, debugging, production, and clerical teams. Nintendo announced the purchase of a 40,000 square-meter lot that would house an all new research and development (R&D) office that would make it easier for the company's two other Kyoto R&D offices to collaborate as well as expand the total work force on new upcoming console development and new software for current and future hardware.^[3][4]

Nintendo owns several buildings throughout Kyoto and Tokyo housing subsidiary and affiliated companies. One of the more famous buildings was the Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo building – previously known as the Nintendo Tokyo Prefecture Building – was jokingly called The Pokémon Building, accommodates the complete Pokémon family which included The Pokémon Company, Creatures Inc., and Genius Sonority.^[5]

In 2020, Nintendo revealed that they were going to unify all four of their buildings in Tokyo into just one. With this, several divisions and affiliated companies came to be together in the same building, including Game Freak, Nintendo's subsidiary 1-Up Studio and after 13 years, HAL Laboratory with its Tokyo studio and headquarters.^[6]

Buildings[]

Nintendo Research & Development Buildings

Name	Location	Developer(s)
Asia
Nintendo Central Office	Kyoto, Japan	formerly Nintendo EAD, Systems Research & Development (SRD)
Nintendo Kyoto Research Institute	Kyoto, Japan	formerly Nintendo SPD, Intelligent Systems (moved into a new building next near Nintendo Central Offices in 2013),[7] currently Mario Club
Nintendo Kyoto Development Complex	Kyoto, Japan	Was originally scheduled to open at the end of December 2013,[8] but did not until June 2014.[9] Currently houses the Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD), Platform Technology Development (PTD), and Business Development divisions
Nintendo Tokyo Office	Tokyo, Japan	Located in a new office building named Kanda Square,[10] that now contains divisions from Nintendo and different companies from four different locations in Tokyo, now reunited in one place to boost efficiency, with Nintendo themselves occupying the 8th, 20th and 21st floors.[11] Replaced the former Nintendo Tokyo Office and the Nintendo Tokyo Prefecture Building, the latter of which contained The Pokémon Company, Creatures Inc., Genius Sonority, HAL Laboratory and Warpstar (Warpstar and the development center of HAL Laboratory were moved to the HAL's main office building in Tokyo in 2003 until 2020, when HAL Laboratory moved their head offices again to this building). Currently home to Nintendo EPD Tokyo, Nintendo PTD Tokyo, HAL Laboratory Head Office and Tokyo R&D Center, 1-Up Studio and Game Freak.[5][12][13][14]
America
Nintendo of America Headquarters	Redmond, Washington, US	Nintendo Software Technology (NST)
Nintendo Technology Development	Seattle, Washington, US	Nintendo Technology Development (NTD)
Europe
Nintendo European Research & Development	Paris, France	Nintendo European Research & Development (NERD)

Former offices[]

• Nintendo Sapporo Office – Sapporo, Japan – closed
• Nintendo Fukuoka Office – Fukuoka, Japan – closed
• Nintendo Tokyo Prefecture Building – Tokyo, Japan – closed
• Nintendo Tokyo Office (previous) – Tokyo, Japan – closed

Divisions[]

Entertainment Planning and Development (EPD)[]

The Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development division was created on 16 September 2015, as part of a company-wide organizational restructure that took place under Nintendo's then newly appointed president, Tatsumi Kimishima. The division was created after the merger of two of its largest divisions, Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD) and Software Planning & Development (SPD).^[15]

The division assumed both of its predecessors' roles, focusing on the development of games and software for Nintendo platforms and mobile devices; it also manages and licenses the company's various intellectual properties. Shinya Takahashi, formerly general manager of the SPD division, serves as general manager of the new division, as well as supervisor for both the Business Development and Development Administration & Support divisions. Katsuya Eguchi and Yoshiaki Koizumi maintained their positions as Deputy General Managers of EPD, which they previously held under EAD.^[15]

Platform Technology Development (PTD)[]

The Nintendo Platform Technology Development division was created on 16 September 2015, as part of a company-wide organizational restructure that took place under Nintendo's then newly appointed president, Tatsumi Kimishima. The division was created after the merger of two Nintendo's divisions, the Integrated Research & Development (IRD), which specialized in hardware development, and System Development (SDD), which specialized operating system development and its development environment and network services.^[15]

The new division assumed both of its predecessors' roles. Ko Shiota, formerly Deputy general manager of the IRD division, serves as the general manager (GM), while Takeshi Shimada, formerly Deputy general manager of the Software Environment Development Department of the SDD division, serves the same role.^[15]

Business Development Division (BDD)[]

The Nintendo Business Development division was formed following Nintendo's foray into software development for smart devices, such as mobile phones and tablets. They are responsible for refining Nintendo's business model for dedicated game system business, and for furthering Nintendo's venture into development for smart devices.

Subsidiaries[]

Although most of the research and development is done in Japan, there are also R&D facilities in the United States, Europe and China.

Name	Location	Works
Nintendo Software Technology (NST)	Redmond, Washington, US	Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, Wii Street U and other games and apps, helped with WebKit's JavaScript JIT[16]
Nintendo Technology Development (NTD)	Redmond, Washington, US	Video game console development and software technology.
Nintendo European Research & Development (NERD)	Paris, France	Formerly known as Mobiclip, doing various software technologies such as video compression and middleware, including the video player of the Wii U Internet Browser.[16]
Nintendo Network Service Database (NSD)	Kyoto, Japan	Nintendo Network programming and server maintenance. Co-operates with the Nintendo Network Business & Development (NBD) division.

Nintendo Software Technology (NST)[]

Nintendo Software Technology Corp. (or NST) is an American video game developer located inside of Nintendo of America's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The studio 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, exclusively for Nintendo consoles.

The studio's best known projects include the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, Crosswords series, Wii Street U and other video games and applications.

Nintendo Technology Development (NTD)[]

Nintendo Technology Development Inc. (or NTD) is a Washington-based hardware focused Research & Development group for Nintendo. The group focuses on the creation of various software technologies, hardware tools, and development kits for first-party use and third-party licensing across Nintendo platforms, in collaboration with the Nintendo Integrated Research & Development division led by Genyo Takeda. Several side projects and unreleased prototypes are commonly linked to this Washington based subsidiary. NTD is also responsible for some low-level coding.

Nintendo European Research and Development (NERD)[]

Nintendo European Research & Development SAS (or NERD), formerly known as Mobiclip, is a Nintendo subsidiary, located in Paris, France. The team currently focuses on developing software technologies, such as video compression, and middleware for Nintendo platforms.^[17] While an independent company, Mobiclip was responsible for licensing video codecs for Sony Pictures Digital, Fisher-Price and Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii and Nintendo 3DS.

The team has recently been involved in the development of the Wii U Chat application, in co-operation with Vidyo.

Nintendo Network Service Database (NSD)[]

Nintendo Network Service Database Inc. (or NSD) was formerly known as Wii no Ma. Originally created by Nintendo to provide digital entertainment as a service for Wii owners, the company has since been renamed.^[18]

Currently, Nintendo Network Services handles all Nintendo Network operations, including programming and server maintenance inside Nintendo's in-house projects through the Nintendo Network Business & Development division and throughout various other external online software infrastructures. Lastly, the company also cooperates in developing third party online infrastructures compatible with Nintendo consoles and Nintendo Network.

Most external first-party software development is done in Japan, since the only overseas subsidiaries are Retro Studios in the United States and Next Level Games in Canada. Although these studios are all subsidiaries of Nintendo, they are often referred to as external resources when being involved in joint development processes with Nintendo's internal developers by the Nintendo Software Planning & Development division.

Name	Location	Works
1-Up Studio	Tokyo, Japan	Magical Vacation series, Mother 3 and A Kappa's Trail. Currently, a development support studio for Nintendo EPD.[19]
iQue	Suzhou, China	Previously, a manufacturer of Chinese versions of Nintendo consoles. Since 2016 it has handled Simplified Chinese translation/localization, and - since 2019 - has moved from console manufacture to become a development support studio, hiring programmers and testers to support Nintendo EPD games.
Monolith Soft	Tokyo, Japan	Xenoblade Chronicles series, Baten Kaitos series and Disaster: Day of Crisis.[20]
	Kyoto, Japan	Development support studio for Monolith Soft Tokyo and Nintendo EPD. Development support for Splatoon, Splatoon 2, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pikmin 3 and other Nintendo EPD games, alongside support for Monolith Soft Tokyo games such as the Xenoblade Chronicles series.[21]
NDcube	Tokyo, Japan	Wii Party series, Mario Party series and Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics.
Next Level Games	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada	Luigi's Mansion series, Super Mario Strikers series, Punch-Out!! and Metroid Prime: Federation Force.
Retro Studios	Austin, Texas, US	Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country series.

1-Up Studio[]

1-Up Studio Co., Ltd. (１‐UPスタジオ株式会社), formerly Brownie Brown Inc. (ブラウニーブラウン, Buraunī Buraun), is a Japanese Nintendo-funded and owned video game development studio opened on 30 June 2000 and based in Tokyo, Japan. On 1 February 2013, Brownie Brown announced on their official website that due to their recent co-development efforts with Nintendo, Brownie Brown are undergoing a change in internal structure, which includes changing the name of their company to 1-Up Studio.^[22]

The studio is known for the development of the Magical Vacation series, Mother 3 and A Kappa's Trail. Since 2013, it stands as a development support studio for Nintendo EPD.

iQue[]

Originally a Chinese joint venture between its founder, Wei Yen, and Nintendo, manufactures and distributes official Nintendo consoles and games for the mainland Chinese market, under the iQue brand. The product lineup for the Chinese market is considerably different from that for other markets. For example, Nintendo's only console in China is the iQue Player, a modified version of the Nintendo 64. In 2013, the company became a fully owned subsidiary of Nintendo.^[23][24]

It became a translation and localization company for simplified chinese since 2016 for Nintendo games. In 2018, it stopped to be a manufacturer for consoles at China and in 2019 began to hire programmers and testers to transition to be a supporting development company for Nintendo EPD.^[25]

Monolith Soft[]

Monolith Soft, Inc. (株式会社モノリスソフト, Kabushiki-Gaisha Monorisu Sofuto) is a Japanese video game development company that has created video games for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Nintendo DS, and cell phones. The company currently has two main studios, its Tokyo Software Development Studio, which is housed in the company's headquarters, and the recently opened Kyoto Software Development Studio. The company was previously owned by Bandai Namco, until 2007 when Bandai Namco transferred 80% of its 96% stake to Nintendo. At a later date the remaining 16% was sold so the company is currently 96% Nintendo owned and 4% third parties. A majority of Monolith Soft's staff are former employees of Square Co., who transferred to the new company shortly after the creation of Chrono Cross. They were previously involved with the creation of Xenogears, from which the Xenosaga series is derived.

Monolith Soft's Tokyo Software Development Studio is usually associated with the Xeno series, the Baten Kaitos series and Disaster: Day of Crisis,^[20] while its Kyoto Software Development Studio is currently a development co-operation studio.^{[citation needed]}

NDcube[]

NDcube Co., Ltd. (エヌディーキューブ株式会社 Enudī Kyūbu Kabushiki Gaisha) is a Nintendo subsidiary and Japanese video game developer based in Japan with offices in Tokyo and Sapporo. The company was founded on 1 March 2000, through a joint venture between Nintendo and advertising firm Dentsu, hence the Nd in the name.^[26] In 2010, Nintendo decided to buy out 96% of the shares, with ad partner Dentsu stepping aside.^[27] Since NDcube was founded, they have kept a low profile, working on various Japanese GameCube and Game Boy Advance titles. Two notable games that have reached western shores are F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and Tube Slider. As seen in the credits for Mario Party 9, NDcube indeed houses many ex-Hudson Soft employees, some vary between folks who have focused primarily on many other entries in the Mario Party series.

The company is currently best known for the Wii Party series and for taking over the Mario Party series, after Hudson Soft was absorbed into Konami.

Next Level Games[]

Next Level Games is a Canadian video game developer based in Vancouver. The company has been working with Nintendo since 2005 with Super Mario Strikers, while since 2014, the company began to work exclusively under contract with Nintendo. In January 2021, Nintendo revealed they had purchased Next Level Games, after over a decade working with the developer per contract basis and 6 years having them working exclusively.

Next Level Games has worked on the two most recent entries in the Luigi's Mansion series, the Mario Strikers series, Punch-Out!! for the Wii, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the Nintendo 3DS.

Retro Studios[]

Retro Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. The company was founded in October 1998 by Nintendo and the video game veteran Jeff Spangenberg after leaving Acclaim Entertainment, as an independent studio making games exclusively for Nintendo. The studio started with four Nintendo GameCube projects which had a chaotic and unproductive development, and did not impress Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto, but he suggested they create a new game in the Metroid series. Eventually the four games in development were cancelled so Retro could focus only on Metroid Prime, which was released for the GameCube in 2002, the same year Nintendo acquired the studio completely by purchasing the majority of Spangenberg's holding stock.

Retro Studios is now one of the most renowned Nintendo first-party developers thanks to the development of the Metroid Prime series, assisting in Mario Kart 7, and for reviving the Donkey Kong Country series.

Affiliate companies[]

Major and minor affiliate development companies, per contract or under significant owned stake

Name	Works
Camelot Software Planning	Golden Sun series, Mario Tennis series, Mario Golf series, Mario Sports Superstars.
Creatures	Mother series, Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon Ranger series, PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure, Detective Pikachu.
Cygames	Dragalia Lost.
DeNA	Service infrastructure, My Nintendo integration and development cooperation on mobile applications of the partnership with Nintendo like Miitomo (defunct in 2018), Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Mario Kart Tour. Outside of games in the Nintendo Mobile branding, DeNA also developed Pokémon Masters EX.
Game Freak	Mainline Pokémon series, HarmoKnight, Drill Dozer, Mario & Wario.
Genius Sonority	Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Pokémon Trozei!, Pokémon Battle Revolution, Pokémon Shuffle.
Good-Feel	Wario Land: Shake It!, Kirby's Epic Yarn (with HAL Laboratory), Yoshi's Woolly World, Yoshi's Crafted World.
Grezzo	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, Ever Oasis, Luigi's Mansion (3DS), The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch).
HAL Laboratory	Kirby series, BoxBoy! series, Picross 3D, Pokémon Stadium series, Super Smash Bros. series (until Brawl), Mother series.
indieszero	Sennen Kazoku, Electroplankton, Personal Trainer: Cooking, Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido.
Intelligent Systems	Fire Emblem series, Wars series, Paper Mario series, Pushmo series, WarioWare series.
Sora Ltd.	Kid Icarus: Uprising (with Project Sora), Meteos (with Q Entertainment and Bandai), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (with HAL Laboratory, Game Arts and Monolith Soft), Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (with Bandai Namco Studios), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (with Bandai Namco Studios).
Vanpool	Dillon's Rolling Western series, Tingle series, Paper Mario: Sticker Star (with Intelligent Systems).
Vitei	Steel Diver series (with Nintendo EAD), Tank Troopers (with Nintendo EAD).

Logo[]

Former divisions and subsidiaries[]

Name	Active	Additional details	Fate
Nintendo Research & Development 1 (Nintendo R&D1)	1970–2002	The original game development team at Nintendo. Originally created in the 1970s by Hiroshi Imanishi as the games division of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Gunpei Yokoi was the original engineer and inventor designated to create electronic toys and arcade coin-operated software. With the conception of the Famicom (known as the Nintendo Entertainment System in the West), the Virtual Boy, and Game Boy, the group was reassigned to concentrate on developing the premier software for console and portable gaming straying away from its original toys, Game & Watch, and arcade roots.	Nintendo EAD Nintendo SPD Nintendo RED
Nintendo Research & Development 2 (Nintendo R&D2)	1972–2002	This group mainly concentrated on hardware technology and system operating tools. Masayuki Uemura was hired away from Sharp Corporation where he specialized in solar cell technology. The solar technology fueled the original bean gun games which Nintendo introduced to huge success. The team would go on to develop several peripherals and eventually even some video game software. The team generally assisted Nintendo R&D1 and Nintendo R&D3 with their arcade games, but it also became the first team to specialize in software ports at Nintendo with the task of porting all the original arcade titles like Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., and Popeye to the Famicom.[28]	Nintendo EAD Nintendo SPD
Nintendo Research & Development 3 (Nintendo R&D3)	1974–1996	Originally created as a hardware engineering division, Genyo Takeda managed to diversify his group and create software on the same arcade boards being designed for Gunpei Yokoi's R&D1 team. After developing the arcade hits like Sheriff, Punch-Out!! and Arm Wrestling, the team was involved in developing a variety of unique software for the NES that was mainly aimed at the Western market, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out and StarTropics to name a few. The team also helped create bank switching and the MMC chips in the NES cartridges.	Nintendo IRD
Nintendo Research & Development 4 (Nintendo R&D4)	1983–1989	In 1984, Hiroshi Yamauchi, former president of Nintendo, rewarded Shigeru Miyamoto his own development studio after proving himself his ability to consistently produce both critically acclaimed and successful video games with the original Donkey Kong and Mario Bros.. Although the team didn't have as many resources as Nintendo R&D1, R&D4 also focused on developing NES games. It ended up creating Nintendo's two most enduring franchises: Mario and The Legend of Zelda. During the development of the Super NES, Nintendo R&D4 was renamed Nintendo EAD. Takashi Tezuka joined Shigeru Miyamoto in developing R&D4 games, with music composition being handled by Koji Kondo.	Nintendo EAD
Nintendo Tokyo R&D Products	1987–1989	In the early 1980s, Nintendo planned to expand software R&D into the Tokyo manufacturing branch building to operate alongside its overcrowded Kyoto headquarters. The initial plans became delayed and shortly after the development of the original Mother, the group ceased development.	N/A
Nintendo of America (NOA) Special-Projects	1990–1997	The first development branch at Nintendo of America. Nintendo wanted to deliver more software based at the U.S. market following the trails of the Sega Genesis marketing blitz. Nintendo of America appointed product analysts Jeff Hutt and Don James to head the division. The group initially concentrated on sports games, which led to the NES Play Action and Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball franchises.	N/A
Project Sora	2009–2012	The company was solely created to develop Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS. The president and director of the team, Masahiro Sakurai later joined forces with Bandai Namco Studios to create Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U with Nintendo SPD.[29]	N/A
Nintendo Research & Engineering Department (Nintendo RED)	2003–2013	The original hardware development team responsible for all of Nintendo's portable and hand held systems. The manager Satoru Okada and most of the chief engineers originate from the old Nintendo R&D1 hardware division that created all the Game & Watch and hand held LCD cabinets.[30] On 16 February 2013, Nintendo RED was combined with the Nintendo Integrated Research & Development (or IRD) division.[31][32]	Nintendo IRD
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development (Nintendo EAD)	1989–2015	Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development was the premier development arm at Nintendo. The group had the largest concentration of R&D, housing more than 800 engineers and designers. The division was split into seven different subdivisions, each led by a designated producer and group manager. The overseeing managers were Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Five divisions were located in the central Kyoto R&D building under the Software Development Department, while two divisions resided in the Tokyo offices under the Tokyo Software Development Department.	Nintendo EPD
Nintendo Software Planning & Development (Nintendo SPD)	2003–2015	Nintendo Software Planning & Development was the development group that included several of the original development officers from the old software and hardware development sectors. The division was broken up into two departments; Software Planning & Development Department and Software Design & Development Department.	Nintendo EPD
Nintendo Integrated Research & Development (Nintendo IRD)	2003–2015	Nintendo Integrated Research & Development was Nintendo's hardware group that specialized in all engineering and technological aspects of Nintendo's home console and handheld development. The division also housed industrial designers who design peripherals such as the WaveBird, Wii Zapper, and Wii steering wheel. The group was originally known as Research and Development Department 3 (R&D3),[33] with the same primary functions, with the exception that manager Genyo Takeda enjoyed moonlighting by developing console and arcade games. On 16 February 2013, Nintendo IRD combined with Nintendo Research & Engineering Department (or RED), the former hardware group that specialized in all engineering and technological aspects of Nintendo's handheld development.[31][32]	Nintendo PTD
Nintendo Network Business & Development (Nintendo NBD)	2003–2015	The Nintendo Network Business & Development division, which used to be centered in peripheral and software development, was a hybrid development group with several distinct duties. The development team originated from Nintendo Research & Development 2 and was mainly responsible for ports and inhouse development for low profile hardware like the Pokémon Mini and the Super Famicom Satellaview service. The department handled most Nintendo Network programming and server maintenance inside Nintendo's in-house projects and throughout various other external Nintendo software, in cooperation with Nintendo Network Services. The department also cooperated in software development.[34]	Nintendo PTD

References[]