Nintendo buys land near Kyoto headquarters for “reinforcing its R&D”

The acquisition was announced in an investor relations release today (April 12), with the bidding price around £30.5million (5billion Yen) for land of approximately 10,000 square metres. Formerly a material and disaster prevention centre, the land was acquired by the city of Kyoto last year, with Nintendo now taking ownership.

The land will be used for a 12 floor steel framed building, which is expected to be completed around December 2027 and will be called the “Corporate Headquarters Development Centre, Building No. 2”.

In this context, R&D likely refers to both game and technological development projects Nintendo undertakes as a first party studio. The new development centre will be between the current development centre and headquarters on the map here, with the current buildings marked in red.

This is the latest development from Nintendo as it looks to expand its current operations, as back in February the company announced it had acquired SRD, a development company intertwined with Nintendo’s biggest franchises over the last 40 years.

“Completion of the acquisition […] will serve to strengthen the management base of SRD and secure the availability of software development resources for Nintendo, in addition to facilitating an anticipated improvement in software development efficiency,” read the acquisition notification.

The acquisition was also expected to close on April 1 this year, which would have “only a minor effect on Nintendo’s results.”

SRD began working with Nintendo in 1982, and has contributed to many games in the company’s major franchises like The Legend Of Zelda series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Wii Fit, and Super Mario 64.

In other news, Riot Games’ upcoming massively multiplayer online (MMO) game has “no guarantee” it will launch according to the game’s producer.