Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development

Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development
{{Infobox company
| name = Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development
| logo = Nintendo.svg
| logo_size =
| logo_alt =
| logo_caption =
| image = Nintendo Kyoto Development Complex View.jpg
| image_size =
| image_alt = Exterior of the Nintendo Development Center, which houses most of the division in Kyoto
| image_caption = Exterior of the Nintendo Development Center in Kyoto
| native_name = 任天堂企画制作本部
| native_name_lang = ja
| romanized_name = Nintendō Kikaku Seisaku Honbu
| former_name =
| type = Division
| industry = Video games
| fate =
| predecessors =
| successor =
| founded =
| founder =
| defunct =
| hq_location_city = Kyoto
| hq_location_country = Japan
| num_locations = 2 (Kyoto and Tokyo)
| key_people =
| brands = {{Flatlist|
Animal Crossing
Big Brain Academy
Brain Age
Mario Kart
Metroid
Pikmin
Splatoon Star Fox Super Mario The Legend of Zelda}}
| owner =
| num_employees = 700
| num_employees_year = 2019
| parent = Nintendo
}}
commonly abbreviated as 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. EPD was created after merging their Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD) and Software Planning & Development (SPD) divisions in September 2015.
History
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.
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, 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. By 2023, Takayuki Shimamura was named deputy general manager, Aonuma was promoted to senior officer and Koji Kondo was named senior officer.
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. The known groups in the department are:
Production Group No. 2 oversees games developed by other companies but published by Nintendo, such as the Kirby, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Fire Emblem series.
Production Group No. 3 develops the main The Legend of Zelda series.
Production Group No. 4 develops 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!.
Production Group No. 5, with group manager Aya Kyogoku, develops the Animal Crossing and Splatoon series.
Production Group No. 6 oversees games developed by other companies but published by Nintendo, such as the Paper Mario, Metroid Prime and Luigi's Mansion series.
Production Group No. 8, also known as Nintendo EPD Tokyo, develops 3D Super Mario games.
Production Group No. 9, with group manager Kosuke Yabuki, develops the Mario Kart series and Arms.
Production Group No. 10 develops 2D Super Mario games and the Pikmin'' series.
Games developed
Notes
References
First-party video game developers
Nintendo divisions and subsidiaries
Video game development companies
Video game companies established in 2015
Japanese companies established in 2015
Companies based in Kyoto