abbreviated Nintendo EPD, is the largest division within the Japanese video game company
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles.
The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
. The division focuses on developing and producing video games, mobile apps, and other related entertainment software for the company. Nintendo EPD was established in September 2015 after merging their
Entertainment Analysis & Development
commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD and formerly known as Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department (abbreviated as Nintendo R&D4), was the largest software development division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. It was pr ...
and
Software Planning & Development
commonly abbreviated as Nintendo SPD, was a Japanese research, planning and development division owned by Nintendo and housed inside the Nintendo Development Center in Kyoto, Japan. The division had two departments: ''Software Planning & Develo ...
divisions.
History
The division was created on September 16, 2015, after the
consolidation of two of Nintendo's former software divisions,
Entertainment Analysis & Development
commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD and formerly known as Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department (abbreviated as Nintendo R&D4), was the largest software development division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. It was pr ...
(EAD) and
Software Planning & Development
commonly abbreviated as Nintendo SPD, was a Japanese research, planning and development division owned by Nintendo and housed inside the Nintendo Development Center in Kyoto, Japan. The division had two departments: ''Software Planning & Develo ...
(SPD), as part of a company-wide organizational restructure under Nintendo's newly appointed president,
Tatsumi Kimishima.
The division assumed both of its predecessors' roles, focusing on the
development of games and software for Nintendo platforms and
mobile device
A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. ...
s; it also manages and licenses the company's various
intellectual properties, alongside producing and supervising development for external studios.
Shinya Takahashi, former general manager of Nintendo SPD, has the same title in EPD, with
Yoshiaki Koizumi
is a Japanese video game designer, director, producer, and business executive. He is a senior executive officer at Nintendo and a deputy general manager at Nintendo EPD, where he is known for his work within their ''Mario'' and ''The Legend of ...
,
Katsuya Eguchi,
Eiji Aonuma
is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer at Nintendo. He is a senior officer within their Nintendo EPD division and serves as the producer of the ''The Legend of Zelda, Legend of Zelda'' franchise.
Career
Aonuma was born as on ...
, and
Hisashi Nogami
is a Japanese video game designer, director, and Video game producer, producer at Nintendo. He is best known as a creator of the ''Animal Crossing'' and ''Splatoon'' franchises.
Biography
Nogami was born in Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture in 1971. H ...
as deputy general managers, and
Kensuke Tanabe
is a Japanese video game producer and designer working for Nintendo, where he currently is Senior Officer at Nintendo EPD.
After he had graduated from the Visual Concept Planning Department of Osaka University of Arts, he decided to enter the ...
,
Yoshio Sakamoto
(born July 23, 1959) is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer. He has worked at Nintendo since 1982. He has directed several games in the ''Metroid'' series. He is one of the most prominent members of Nintendo's former Resear ...
, and
Takashi Tezuka
is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer. He is a senior officer in Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development division and is an Executive Officer at Nintendo itself. Tezuka was the right-hand man to Shigeru Miyamoto an ...
as senior officers. The others had been in such positions since the division's formation, Nogami was promoted in 2017, and Aonuma and Tanabe and were promoted into higher positions within the division in 2019.
By 2023, Takahashi and Koizumi were promoted to more senior positions, with Takayuki Shimamura being named deputy general manager and Aonuma, and sound designer
Koji Kondo
is a Japanese composer and senior executive at the video game company Nintendo. He is best known for his contributions for the '' Super Mario'' and ''The Legend of Zelda'' series, with his ''Super Mario Bros.'' theme being the first piece of mu ...
named senior officers.
Structure
Mainly located in Kyoto, the Nintendo division works similarly to its two predecessors before the merger and is divided into many groups. It has ten production groups responsible for development or production of games, each of them having their own managers, producers and project leads working on specific series and focus, with them using the pool of talents in the division for each project. In the overall division, the general manager, deputy general managers, and senior officers oversee different aspects in those production groups. The division also houses the Programming Management, Design Management, and Sound Management groups.
There are currently 10 game production groups within Nintendo EPD:
* Co-Production Group, previously known as Production Group No. 2 until 2023, produces most of the games developed by external studios and published by Nintendo,
such as the ''
Mario Tennis'', ''
Kirby
Kirby may refer to:
Buildings
* Kirby Building, a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, United States
* Kirby Lofts, a building in Houston, Texas, United States
* Kirby Hall, an Elizabethan country house near Corby, Northamptonshire, England
* Kirby Ho ...
'', ''
Xenoblade Chronicles
''Xenoblade Chronicles'' is a series of action role-playing games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. The series began with the original '' Xenoblade Chronicles'' game, published for the Wii in 2010 in Japan, and released in ...
'', ''
Fire Emblem
is a Video games in Japan, Japanese fantasy tactical role-playing game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. First produced and published for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990, the series currently con ...
'' and ''
Mario & Luigi
''Mario & Luigi'' (also known as ''Mario & Luigi RPG'' in Japanese regions) is a series of role-playing video games published by Nintendo and originally developed by AlphaDream prior to their bankruptcy. The series is a spin-off from Nintendo's t ...
'' series.
It consists of staff from a former Production Group No. 1 in the department.
* Production Group No. 3 develops the main ''
The Legend of Zelda
is a media franchise, video game series created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo; some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Flags ...
'' series.
* Production Group No. 4 develops casual and experimental games such as ''
Miitopia'', ''
1-2-Switch'', ''
Nintendo Labo
is a series of toys-to-life video games developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Gameplay consists of players constructing Toy-Cons from kits that include cardboard cut-outs and other materials in combination with the consol ...
'', ''
Ring Fit Adventure'', ''
Jump Rope Challenge'', ''
Game Builder Garage
is a 2021 programming video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Released on June 11, 2021, it is a spin-off of the Nintendo Labo series, which included a mode with similar gameplay titled Toy-Con Garage.
Gameplay ...
'', ''
Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain'', ''
Nintendo Switch Sports'' and ''
Everybody 1-2-Switch!''.
The division also co-developed ''
Alarmo'' with
Nintendo PTD.
* Production Group No. 5, with group manager
Aya Kyogoku, develops the ''
Animal Crossing
is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. It was created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. The player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals and can ...
'' and ''
Splatoon
is a third-person shooter video game franchise created by Hisashi Nogami and Shintaro Sato and developed and owned by Nintendo. Set in the far future on a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic Earth that has been repopulat ...
'' series.
* Production Group No. 6 oversee and produce games developed by external studios and published by Nintendo, such as the ''
Paper Mario
''Paper Mario'' is a video game series and part of the ''Mario'' franchise, developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It combines elements from the role-playing, action-adventure, and puzzle genres. Players control a ...
'', ''
Metroid Prime'' and ''
Luigi's Mansion
is a 2001 action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo. The game was a launch title for the GameCube and was the first game in the ''Mario'' franchise to be released for the console; it was released in Japan on September 14, ...
'' series.
* Production Group No. 7 developed ''
Miitomo
''Miitomo'' was a freemium social networking service, social networking mobile app developed by Nintendo for iOS and Android (operating system), Android devices. The app, Nintendo's first, allowed users to converse with friends by answering vari ...
'' and co-develops 2D ''
Metroid
is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic M ...
'' games with
MercurySteam
Mercury Steam Entertainment S.L., doing business as MercurySteam, is a Spanish video game developer based in San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid. It was founded by former members of Rebel Act Studios, who had developed '' Severance: Blade of D ...
and ''
Famicom Detective Club'' games with
MAGES.
* Production Group No. 8, also known as Nintendo EPD Tokyo, develops 3D ''
Super Mario
(also known as and is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every ma ...
'' games.
* Production Group No. 9, develops the ''
Mario Kart
is a series of kart racing games based on the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up item (game terminology), items. It features Characters in ...
'' series and ''
Arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
''.
* Production Group No. 10 develops 2D ''
Super Mario
(also known as and is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every ma ...
'' games (including the ''
Super Mario Maker
is a 2015 platform game and game creation system developed and published by Nintendo. An entry in the ''Super Mario'' series, the game allowed players to create, play, and share courses based on previous ''Super Mario'' titles including ''Sup ...
'' series) and the ''
Pikmin
is a real-time strategy and puzzle video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto, and published by Nintendo. The games focus on directing a horde of plant-like creatures called Pikmin to collect items by destroying obstacles, avoiding hazards, ...
'' series.
* Smart Device Production Group, with group manager
Hideki Konno, develop
smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
games alongside other EPD groups as well as produce games by external studios.
Games developed
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development
Companies based in Kyoto
First-party video game developers
Japanese companies established in 2015
Nintendo divisions and subsidiaries
Video game companies established in 2015
Video game development companies