Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development

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 in September 2015 after merging their Entertainment Analysis & Development and Software Planning & Development divisions.

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; 9 years ago (2015-09-16)
Headquarters	Kyoto , Japan
Number of locations	2 (Kyoto and Tokyo)
Key people	Executive General Manager Shinya Takahashi Senior General Manager Yoshiaki Koizumi Deputy General Managers Katsuya Eguchi Hisashi Nogami Takayuki Shimamura Senior Officers Takashi Tezuka Yoshio Sakamoto Kensuke Tanabe Eiji Aonuma Koji Kondo
Brands	Animal Crossing Big Brain Academy Brain Age Donkey Kong The Legend of Zelda Mario Kart Metroid Pikmin Splatoon Star Fox Super Mario
Parent	Nintendo
Divisions	Co-Production Group Production Group No. 3 Production Group No. 4 Production Group No. 5 Production Group No. 6 Production Group No. 7 Production Group No. 8 Production Group No. 9 Production Group No. 10 Smart Device Production Group Programming Management Group Design Management Group Sound Management Group

History

See also: Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development and 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] has the same title in EPD, 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, Takahashi and Koizumi were promoted to more senior positions, with Takayuki Shimamura being named deputy general manager and Aonuma, and sound designer Koji Kondo named senior officers.^[6][7][8][9]

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 division also houses the Programming Management, Design Management, and Sound Management groups.^[10][11] There are currently 10 game production groups within Nintendo EPD:

• Co-Production Group, previously known as Production Group No. 2 until 2023, produces most of the games developed by external studios^[b] and published by Nintendo,^[12] such as the Kirby, Xenoblade Chronicles, Fire Emblem and Mario & Luigi series.^{[13][14][15][16][17]}
• Production Group No. 3 develops the main The Legend of Zelda series.^[10]
• 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!.^[18][19][20] The division also co-developed Alarmo with Nintendo PTD.^[21]
• Production Group No. 5, with group manager Aya Kyogoku, develops the Animal Crossing and Splatoon series.^[22][23][24]
• 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.^[25]
• Production Group No. 7 co-develops 2D Metroid games with MercurySteam and Famicom Detective Club games with MAGES.^[26]
• Production Group No. 8, also known as Nintendo EPD Tokyo, develops 3D Super Mario games.^[12]
• Production Group No. 9 develops the Mario Kart series and also worked on Arms.^[12]
• Production Group No. 10 develops 2D Super Mario games (including the Super Mario Maker series) and the Pikmin series.^[16][27]
• Smart Device Production Group, with group manager Hideki Konno, develop smartphone games alongside other EPD groups as well as produce games by external studios.^[28]

Games developed

List of video games developed by Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development

Year	Title	Genre(s)	Platform(s)	Notes	Ref.
2015	The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes	Action-adventure	Nintendo 3DS	Co-developed with Grezzo	[29]
	Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival	Party	Wii U	Co-developed with NDCube	[30]
2016	Star Fox Zero	Shoot 'em up	Wii U	Co-developed with PlatinumGames	[31]
	Star Fox Guard	Tower defense	Wii U
	Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome Amiibo	Social simulation	Nintendo 3DS	—	[32]
	Miitopia	Role-playing game	Nintendo 3DS	—	[33]
	Super Mario Run	Platformer	Android, iOS	—	[34]
	Miitomo	Social networking service	Android, iOS	—	[35]
2017	Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp	Social simulation	Android, iOS	—	[36]
	Metroid: Samus Returns	Action-adventure	Nintendo 3DS	Co-developed with MercurySteam	[37]
	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Action-adventure	Nintendo Switch Wii U	—	[38]
	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	Kart racing	Nintendo Switch	—	[39]
	1-2-Switch	Party	Nintendo Switch	—	[40]
	Arms	Fighting, sports	Nintendo Switch	—	[41]
	Splatoon 2	Third-person shooter	Nintendo Switch	—	[42]
	Super Mario Odyssey	Platformer	Nintendo Switch	—	[43]
2018	Nintendo Labo[c]	Construction set	Nintendo Switch	—	[44]
	Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker	Action puzzle	Nintendo 3DS Nintendo Switch	Switch port co-developed with Nintendo Software Technology.	[45]
2019	Dr. Mario World	Puzzle	Android, iOS	Co-developed with LINE and NHN Entertainment	[46]
	Mario Kart Tour	Kart racing	Android, iOS	—	[47]
	New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe	Platformer	Nintendo Switch	—	[48]
	Super Mario Maker 2	Level editor, platformer	Nintendo Switch	—	[49]
	Ring Fit Adventure	Exergame, role-playing	Nintendo Switch	—	[50]
	Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch	Puzzle	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with indieszero	[51]
2020	Animal Crossing: New Horizons	Life simulation	Nintendo Switch	—	[52]
	Super Mario 3D All-Stars	Platformer	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with 1-Up Studio and Nintendo European Research & Development	[53][54]
	Pikmin 3 Deluxe	Action, puzzle	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with Eighting	[55]
2021	Bowser's Fury	Platformer	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with Nintendo Software Technology and 1-Up Studio	[56]
	Game Builder Garage	Programming	Nintendo Switch	—	[57]
	Metroid Dread	Action-adventure	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with MercurySteam	[58]
	Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain	Puzzle	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with indieszero	[59]
2022	Nintendo Switch Sports	Sports	Nintendo Switch	—	[60]
	Splatoon 3	Third-person shooter	Nintendo Switch	—	[61]
2023	The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom	Action-adventure	Nintendo Switch	—	[62]
	Everybody 1-2-Switch!	Party	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with NDcube	[63]
	Pikmin 4	Action, puzzle	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with Eighting	[64]
	Super Mario Bros. Wonder	Platformer	Nintendo Switch	—	[65]
2024	Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition	Action, party, platformer, racing	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with indieszero	[66]
	Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club	Adventure	Nintendo Switch	Co-developed with MAGES	[67]
2025	Mario Kart World	Kart racing	Nintendo Switch 2	—	[68]
	Donkey Kong Bananza	Platformer	Nintendo Switch 2	—	[69]

Notes

1. Japanese: 任天堂企画制作本部, Hepburn: Nintendō Kikaku Seisaku Honbu
2. HAL Laboratory, Intelligent Systems and Monolith Soft.
3. 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.