Nintendo buys the land next to its Japan HQ to build a new development centre by 2027

Nintendo has successfully purchased the land next to its main headquarters in Japan, and plans to build a new development centre there.

In a new statement posted on its corporate Japanese website, the company announced that it “will be acquiring and utilizing the land”, which had previously been owned by Kyoto and had been used as a Foundation Support Factory and a Material and Disaster Prevention Centre.

According to Nintendo, the roughly 10,000 metre-squared site, which it’s purchasing for ¥5 billion ($39.8 million), will be the home of its new building, tentatively named Corporate Headquarters Development Centre Building No 2.

This will be a 12-floor building, due to be completed by the end of 2027, which Nintendo believes “will carry an important role on reinforcing its R&D”.

The announcement follows a report from December 2021 that Nintendo would be expanding its game development capability with two major office expansions in Kyoto.

According to the Nikkei report, the company first plans to rent the 6th and 7th floors of the Kyoto City Waterworks Bureau’s new government building from May 2022.

The new building is located right next to Nintendo’s current headquarters, and Nintendo will be using its rented space to house more development resources.

As part of Kyoto City’s Corporate Location Promotion System, Nintendo will be given up to 160 million yen ($1.4 million) every year for three years to cover some of its operation costs, depending on how many new employees it hires.

The major next step, however, will be the building of the second development centre, which it was originally assumed would be built next to its existing development centre.

Instead, it will be built on the newly acquired land, directly opposite Nintendo’s main headquarters, where it will essentially bridge the two existing buildings as seen in our annotated map (satellite image from Google Maps):

Nintendo said in a management briefing in November that the Switch’s unexpected level of success has enabled the company to invest in new business opportunities, including expansion of its game development capability.

During the briefing, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said it will spend up to ¥100 billion yen ($800 million) expanding its internal game development capability and up to ¥50 billion yen ($400 million) growing its non-game entertainment software assets, such as movies.

Nintendo continued its development expansion in February by acquiring its long-established development partner SRD Co. Ltd.

SRD is a developer comprised of around 140 employees that, while technically independent before now, has worked exclusively on first-party Nintendo software for 40 years and operates close to Nintendo’s Kyoto HQ.

SRD was founded in 1979 and has worked on games as far back as the original Donkey Kong, and contributed to virtually every major Nintendo franchises including Mario, Zelda and Animal Crossing. Most recently, the company worked on Game Builder Garage, Ring Fit Adventure and 1-2-Switch.