Nintendo Plans on Making New IPs Alongside Existing IPs

There are few characters more familiar than a Nintendo protagonist. But the Japanese game company is planning to expand beyond their reputation with new characters.

According to an interview with Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa (translated by VGC), the company plans on making more noteworthy IP. They explained that in order to keep the Nintendo Switch a competitive console, they need to invest time and money into creating new games for existing IPs as well as creating new IPs.

With the expansion of time spent at home, the range of 'entertainment' as an object of consumption is expanding. Games are not a necessity of life. In order for customers to choose games in their finite time, they have to be interesting. Competition is tough, and I am not optimistic.
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I myself am looking at and studying various forms of entertainment. In the future, we will focus on creating new game series as well as long-sellers such as Mario and Zelda.

Nintendo is known for having some of the most popular and prolific characters and IPs, Mario is the most recognizable video game character of all time. And franchises like Zelda, Kirby, and Animal Crossing have been international hits for decades. With them all being exclusive to Nintendo consoles, their existence is often considered the powerhouse behind the companys hardware.

Hearing Nintendo express an interest in developing new IPs has our interest, all the same. They have a track record for making quality games, regardless of IP. The success of the Splatoon games, which premiered just six years ago, is already one of the more popular Nintendo Switch/Wii U titles. Whatever Nintendo decides to make, were fairly confident they will do it well.

Furukawa also spoke about the companys mindset toward consoles. Theyre always thinking about the next iteration, he says.

We are constantly building up ideas for the new consoles the market is expecting, but there are some things we can't do now due to technology and cost constraints.

Weve been hearing rumors and industry reports all pointing toward Nintendo making a new Switch console variant. Dubbed the Switch Pro by the community, numerous folks are expecting Nintendo to announce a higher performance Switch console here soon.

Maybe they will. The company is planning to participate in the digital E3 this year. Itd be a perfect time to unveil such a console. Stay tuned for that.