During its November 2021 earnings briefing, Nintendo outlined an investment plan that included a line item for “up to ¥300 billion for partnership building,” and the interpretation of that phrase became a hot topic on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board. The thread kicked off with the theory that it meant “buyout guarantee fees for third-party software,” but posters quickly pointed out that the source was actually a 2021 article focused mainly on the Nintendo Account. The real point of contention was the definition of Nintendo’s “customers” — end users or business partners — and the debate never reached a consensus.
R&D expenses (hardware development): ¥143.782 billion (including security equipment investment)
Advertising expenses: ¥104.3 billion
The buyout guarantee is bigger than what they spend developing their own games
If they're paying Sony money because of the movie, that would make Sony a subcontractor.
Does this guy even realize what he's saying?
That's about the total construction cost of Mori Building's Toranomon redevelopment.
You could build three skyscrapers in Tokyo with that kind of money.
If it's the "Bravia method" (a nod to Sony's habit of pouring huge money into a product line), even this might be overspending.
Third-party publishers ARE Nintendo's customers, you know.
are they actually going to do those upgrade tickets for the Switch 2 versions?
This is from back in 2021, though.
If you're going to criticize it, at least criticize them for not merging everything with the Switch app into one single app instead.
That's the direction the complaints should go.
How much do you think that stuff actually costs, lol
That's worse than the skimming on public works projects, lol
2021/11/05 18:00
https://shikiho.toyokeizai.net/news/0/466968
The plan calls for investing up to ¥100 billion to expand and improve its game development structure, up to ¥50 billion in non-gaming fields such as visual media, and up to ¥300 billion in infrastructure to strengthen touchpoints with users through online services and physical retail. No specific investment timeframe was given.
Going by this, it sounds like it's about updating and maintaining the store and store-related tools, plus retail shelf space, promotions, and demo kiosks.
If you're so confident it's more, you must know Sony's ad spend, right?
Enlighten me?
The fact that they're booking plain old capital investment under this baffling line item called "partnership building costs"…
it's basically like a Cabinet Secretariat discretionary fund (Japan's notoriously opaque "secret funds") for obscuring buyout guarantees and timed exclusives, lol
page 51
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2024/241106.pdf
Read Re: #65 before you post.
I already know that.
To begin with, even something like expanding the number of countries the eShop supports would just be normal capital investment for business expansion at any regular company.
What I don't get is why they'd lump that into a line item called "partnership building costs."
You're the only one claiming it's booked under that line item — is it actually on Nintendo's P&L?
Can someone explain?
Wasn't Kennosuke the one who started this twisted interpretation in the first place?
Nah, that's money earmarked for supply chain stuff.
Background and Key Points of This Debate
The term “partnership building costs” comes from an investment plan Nintendo announced on November 5, 2021, which allocated up to ¥100 billion to expanding its game development structure and up to ¥50 billion to non-gaming fields such as visual media — alongside up to ¥300 billion for building infrastructure for online services and physical-retail partnerships centered on the Nintendo Account. The thread started from the theory that this meant “buyout guarantee fees for third-party software,” but other posters pushed back, noting that the source was a 2021 article and that Nintendo’s own IR materials (November 2024 edition, page 51) list investment examples showing the spending is closer to store and in-store equipment investment. The sticking point was the definition of “customer”: whether it meant end users (Nintendo Account holders) or business partners like third-party publishers, and interpretations stayed split to the end. Since Nintendo hasn’t disclosed a breakdown, nothing rules out some of it going toward timed exclusives or sales guarantees either — so this isn’t a matter that can be settled definitively.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “Geha”) thread “[Nintendo Fanboy Bad News] Isn’t Nintendo’s “¥300 Billion Partnership Building Cost” from the earnings report just a buyout guarantee?“.
