Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development

Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development

Exterior of the Nintendo Development Center in Kyoto
Native name	任天堂企画制作本部
Romanized name	Nintendō Kikaku Seisaku Honbu
Company type	Division
Industry	Video games
Predecessors	Nintendo EAD Nintendo SPD
Founded	September 16, 2015; 8 years ago (2015-09-16)
Headquarters	Kyoto , Japan
Number of locations	2 (Kyoto and Tokyo)
Key people	General Manager Shinya Takahashi Deputy General Managers Katsuya Eguchi Hisashi Nogami Yoshiaki Koizumi Takayuki Shimamura Senior Officers Takashi Tezuka Yoshio Sakamoto Kensuke Tanabe Eiji Aonuma Koji Kondo
Brands	Animal Crossing Big Brain Academy Brain Age Mario Kart Metroid Pikmin Splatoon Star Fox Super Mario The Legend of Zelda
Parent	Nintendo

Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Division,^[a] abbreviated Nintendo EPD, is the largest division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. The division focuses on developing and producing video games, mobile apps, and other related entertainment software for the company. Nintendo EPD was established after merging their Entertainment Analysis & Development and Software Planning & Development divisions in September 2015.

History

See also: History of Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development and History of Nintendo Software Planning & Development

The division was created on September 16, 2015, after the consolidation of two of Nintendo's former software divisions, Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD) and Software Planning & Development (SPD), as part of a company-wide organizational restructure under Nintendo's newly appointed president, Tatsumi Kimishima.^[1][2][3]

The division assumed both of its predecessors' roles, focusing on the development of games and software for Nintendo platforms and mobile devices; it also manages and licenses the company's various intellectual properties, alongside producing and supervising development for external studios.

Shinya Takahashi, former general manager of Nintendo SPD,^[4] is the general manager of the division, with Yoshiaki Koizumi, Katsuya Eguchi, Eiji Aonuma, and Hisashi Nogami as deputy general managers, and, Kensuke Tanabe, Yoshio Sakamoto and Takashi Tezuka as senior officers. The others had been in such positions since the division's formation, and Aonuma, Tanabe, and Nogami were promoted into higher positions within the division in 2019.^[3][5] By 2023, Takayuki Shimamura was named deputy general manager, Aonuma and Koji Kondo were named senior officers.^[6][7][8]

Structure

Mainly located in Kyoto, the Nintendo division works similarly to its two predecessors before the merger and is divided into many groups. It has ten production groups responsible for development or production of games, each of them having their own managers, producers and project leads working on specific series and focus, with them using the pool of talents in the division for each project. In the overall division, the general manager, deputy general managers, and senior officers oversee different aspects in those production groups. There are currently 11 production groups in Nintendo EPD, and the known groups in the department are:

• Production Group No. 2 oversee and produce games developed by external studios and published by Nintendo, such as the Kirby, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Fire Emblem series.^[9][10][11]
• Production Group No. 3 develops the main The Legend of Zelda series.^[12]
• Production Group No. 4 develops casual and experimental games such as 1-2-Switch, Nintendo Labo, Ring Fit Adventure, Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain, Jump Rope Challenge, Game Builder Garage, Nintendo Switch Sports and Everybody 1-2-Switch!^[13][14][15]
• Production Group No. 5, with group manager Aya Kyogoku, develops the Animal Crossing and Splatoon series.^[16][17][18]
• Production Group No. 6 oversee and produce games developed by external studios and published by Nintendo, such as the Paper Mario, Metroid Prime and Luigi's Mansion series.^[19]
• Production Group No. 7 co-develops 2D Metroid games with Mercury Steam.^{[citation needed]}
• Production Group No. 8, also known as Nintendo EPD Tokyo, develops 3D Super Mario games.^{[citation needed]}
• Production Group No. 9 develops the Mario Kart series and Arms.^{[citation needed]}
• Production Group No. 10 develops 2D Super Mario games and the Pikmin series.^[20][21]
• Smart Device Production Group, with group manager Hideki Konno, develop smartphone games alongside other EPD groups as well as produce games by external studios.^[22]

Games developed

List of video games developed by Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development

Year	Title	Genre(s)	Platform(s)	Details
2015	The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes[23]	Action-adventure	Nintendo 3DS	Co-developed with Grezzo.
	Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival[24]	Party	Wii U	Co-developed with NDCube.
2016	Miitomo[25]	Social networking service	Android	—
			iOS	—
	Star Fox Zero[26]	Scrolling shooter	Wii U	Co-developed with PlatinumGames.
	Star Fox Guard[26]	Tower defense
	Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome Amiibo[27]	Social simulation	Nintendo 3DS	—
	Miitopia[28]	Role-playing game		—
	Super Mario Run[29]	Platformer	iOS	—
			Android	—
	Tank Troopers[30]	Action	Nintendo 3DS	Co-developed with Vitei.
2017	1-2-Switch[31]	Party	Nintendo Switch	—
	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild[32]	Action-adventure	Wii U	—
			Nintendo Switch	—
	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[33][34]	Kart racing		—
	Arms[35]	Fighting, sports		—
	Splatoon 2[36]	Third-person shooter		—
	Metroid: Samus Returns[37]	Action-adventure	Nintendo 3DS	Co-developed with MercurySteam.
	Super Mario Odyssey[38]	Platformer	Nintendo Switch	—
	Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp[39]	Social simulation	Android
			iOS
2018	Nintendo Labo[40][b]	Construction set	Nintendo Switch	—
	Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker[41]	Action puzzle	Nintendo 3DS	Co-developed with Nintendo Software Technology.
			Nintendo Switch
2019	New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe[42]	Platformer		—
	Super Mario Maker 2[43]	Level editor, platformer		—
	Dr. Mario World[44]	Puzzle	Android	Co-developed with LINE and NHN Entertainment.
			iOS
	Mario Kart Tour[45]	Kart racing	Android	—
			iOS	—
	Ring Fit Adventure[46]	Exergame, role-playing	Nintendo Switch	—
	Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch[47]	Puzzle	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with indieszero.
2020	Animal Crossing: New Horizons[48]	Life simulation	Nintendo Switch	—
	Jump Rope Challenge[49]	Exergame	Nintendo Switch	—
	Super Mario 3D All-Stars[50]	Platformer	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with 1-Up Studio and Nintendo European Research & Development.
2021	Bowser's Fury[51]		Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with Nintendo Software Technology and 1-Up Studio
	Game Builder Garage[52]	Programming	Nintendo Switch	—
	Metroid Dread[53]	Action-adventure	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with MercurySteam.
	Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain[54]	Puzzle	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with indieszero.
2022	Nintendo Switch Sports[55]	Sports	Nintendo Switch	—
	Splatoon 3[56]	Third-person shooter	Nintendo Switch	—
2023	The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom[57]	Action-adventure	Nintendo Switch	—
	Everybody 1-2-Switch![58]	Party	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with NDcube
	Pikmin 4[59]	Real-time strategy, puzzle	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with Eighting
	Super Mario Bros. Wonder	Platformer	Nintendo Switch	—

Notes

1. Japanese: 任天堂企画制作本部, Hepburn: Nintendō Kikaku Seisaku Honbu
2. Nintendo Labo is a brand of cardboard-based DIY construction sets that use the Nintendo Switch, with included software, and its Joy-Con controllers in a variety of ways.

References

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