Nintendo gives the first look at its new Kyoto development centre, the Technology Development Building
The 10-floor building is Nintendo’s new R&D hub for software and hardware
Nintendo has given the first look at its new development centre, which is currently under construction.
The building, which Nintendo has now confirmed will be named the Technology Development Building, is located next to its main headquarters in Kyoto, after it successfully purchased the land there in 2022.
Taking up a building area of just over 6,084 square metres and a total floor area of 49,305 square metres, the Technology Development Building will have nine floors above ground, and a basement floor.
Initially due to be completed by the end of 2027 and proposed as a 12-storey building, Nintendo stated back in 2023 that it had been delayed until 2028 because it “decided to up-scale the building”.
According to the company’s latest information, this has been delayed even further, and it’s now now scheduled to open in March 2029 with a total construction cost estimated at ¥121 billion ($747.7 million).
“The Technology Development Building will serve as Nintendo’s new research and development hub for software and hardware,” Nintendo said in a statement (via machine translation). “It will house offices for developers, as well as development server facilities and other functions and equipment necessary for future research and development. It will continue to receive ongoing investment.
“Moving forward, we will continue to strive to deliver ‘entertainment that is unique to Nintendo’ to customers around the world by continuing to build the Technology Development Building and investing in further research and development, to provide more why people choose Nintendo as a ‘unique and reliable form of entertainment’.”
A report by Nikkei in August 2023 claimed that Nintendo was anticipating a long-term increase of staff, and was therefore considering the addition of extra floors to the building, pushing the completion date back.
The article quoted Nintendo president Shuntaro Furakawa as saying: “The development resources required per piece of software are increasing. We would like to maintain the level of recruitment of the past few years.”
It’s not clear if this strategy has changed in any way since the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, or as a result of other factors such as Japan’s current economic climate or rising costs in the tech sector.
