Nintendo launches ‘Nintendo Pictures’ by purchasing an animation studio

A Tokyo-based visual production business with a specialty on computer generated animation and motion capture, Dynamo Pictures, is being acquired by Nintendo. On Thursday, Nintendo revealed its intention to acquire Dynamo and promised to rename the business Nintendo Pictures once negotiations are complete (which is expected to happen in October).

Both video games like Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139 and TV productions like Yuri! on Ice were produced by Dynamo Pictures. In the past, the studio worked with Nintendo on the Pikmin Short Movies series.

The acquisition of this new studio, according to Nintendo’s filing, aims to “strengthen the planning and production structure of visual content in the Nintendo group” and put “visual content utilising Nintendo IP” front and centre. Although that assertion is somewhat ambiguous, the move shouldn’t be taken too seriously given the current comeback of video game firms investing in the creation of movies and TV shows to support their most successful franchises.

In addition to developing an HBO series based on The Last of Us and a Peacock series based on the Twisted Metal franchise, Sony recently launched Uncharted. Perhaps even more analogously, Riot Games collaborated with Fortiche Productions to produce the League of Legends animated series Arcane, in which it made significant investments following the release of the first season on Netflix. With numerous Sonic the Hedgehog goods already available and in development, former Nintendo rival Sega has also placed significant wagers in the film and animation industries.

With the announcement of the new Super Mario Bros. movie, which will be produced by Illumination and star Chris Pratt, Seth Rogan, and Anya Taylor-Joy, Nintendo itself really hinted that it was entering the Hollywood fray last year. Nintendo might want to employ Dynamo to develop new content for its games or possibly its theme parks in addition to producing films and television shows. All of these would be considered “visual content” by Nintendo and are fields in which Dynamo has a lot of knowledge.