Nintendo buys animation studio, forms Nintendo Pictures group

Dynamo Pictures will be purchased by Nintendo. The Tokyo-based visual production firm specializes in CG animated and motion capture. Nintendo announced its plan to buy Dynamo on Thursday, saying it would change the company’s name to Nintendo Pictures after the deal closes (which is expected to happen in October).

Dynamo Pictures is a partner in several television projects such as Yuri! IceGames like Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139 Death Stranding. It has worked previously with Nintendo in developing the Pikmin Short Movies series.

According to Nintendo’s filing, the acquisition of this new studio is intended to “strengthen the planning and production structure of visual content in the Nintendo group” and focus on developing “visual content utilizing Nintendo IP.” While that statement is fairly vague, the move shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the recent resurgence of video game studios leaning into production of movies and TV shows to bolster their most popular franchises.

Sony releases Uncharted It was already being developed for a HBO series that is based on it. Last of UsPeacock Series based upon the Twisted Metal franchise. Riot Games was the creator of something even more similar. League of LegendsAnimations Arcane with Fortiche Productions, which it invested heavily in after the show’s first season debuted on Netflix. Sega, a former Nintendo competitor has made large bets in film and animation with several Sonic the Hedgehog products already released or under development.

Nintendo signaled it was entering the Hollywood market last year when it announced the Super Mario Bros. movie. It will be directed by Illumination star Chris Pratt and Seth Rogan. Nintendo might also use Dynamo for new content, beyond movies and TV shows. All of these would fall under Nintendo’s umbrella of “visual content” and would be areas that Dynamo has extensive experience in.