Those of us who closely follow the video game industry know that Nintendo has always been quite “protective” of its own licenses. While it has never had problems collaborating with third-party studios to develop new IPs, as in the case of Golden Sun (Camelot), most of the video games from its first-party licenses are usually developed solely by internal teams such as Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development, better known as Nintendo EPD.
But this situation has been changing in recent years, and it would go further with the next Nintendo console. According to GamesIndustry, Nintendo would be having “deep conversations” with external studios to work on their first-party IP.
Chris Dring, a journalist from the publication, states that the company is looking for new partners for the Switch 2. “I also know that Nintendo is actively meeting with independent developers to find new partners“, wrote Dring.
“Part of it is about publishing independent games, something that Nintendo does from time to time, but it is also looking for studios that can work on some of its IP,” he continues. “Nintendo regularly works with third-party studios, such as Bandai Namco, Team Ninja, Platinum Games, MercurySteam, WayForward, and Grezzo. But the company wants to expand that list, and I know of three studios that are in talks to create games based on Nintendo brands.”
The studio Platinum Games worked with Nintendo EPD to develop Star Fox Zero and Star Fox Guard. Later on, they would develop Astral Chain exclusively for Switch, and later they would partner again with Nintendo to develop Bayonetta 3, also exclusively for Switch.
In addition, the Californian company WayForward worked on the recent remakes of the Advance Wars strategy saga, and the Spanish studio MercurySteam, known for developing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Konami), has developed the latest Metroid games, including Metroid Dread, the best-selling installment of the franchise.
