Nintendo says generational handover is going smoothly – “We have young and brilliant developers” 

At Nintendo’s 84th annual shareholders meeting held on June 27, 10 AM JST, one of the company’s representative directors Shigeru Miyamoto addressed concerns about his own age and health, as well as that of Nintendo’s active game developers.  

Miyamoto, the creator of some of Nintendo’s best-selling franchises such as Mario and The Legend of Zelda, joined the company back in 1977, and will turn 72 this year. Although Miyamoto has yet to announce his retirement, the topic is of interest to shareholders. 

A big creator’s retirement can leave an unfillable void for game companies and their ongoing franchises, leading to a loss of key skills and know-how accumulated through years of experience. This is why developers leaving without sufficient handover processes is a concern often addressed to companies with long legacies, like Nintendo. 

Shigeru Miyamoto

According to an attendee of this year’s meeting for Nintendo’s shareholders, Miyamoto was asked about the issue of creators aging, and whether he will continue to be at the helm of game development projects considering his age. In response, Miyamoto remarked, “I consider (Nintendo’s) generational handover to be progressing smoothly. We have developers that are young and brilliant.” 

Expressing gratitude for the inquiry about his wellbeing, Miyamoto notes that he is working comfortably, and that while he is leaving most of the practical development work to younger generations, he is not detached from the process either. The creator also emphasizes that he is fully involved in Pikmin Bloom’s development. 

According to Miyamoto, he has successfully transferred know-how to the next generation, but since this generation is also growing older, he wants to make sure generational handover expands to encompass even younger employees. 

Amber V
Amber V

Novice Editor-in-Chief since October 2023.

She grew up playing Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein with her dad, and is now enamored with obscure Japanese video games and internet culture. Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.

Articles: 613

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CAPTCHA


  1. I believe Miyamoto and Nintendo are in a solid spot just because of the fact the company is run by those who have an understanding of Video Games and have been around for a long time in the industry working on the front lines and even in manager positions on successful projects or even have an understanding how the industry works due to being in it for so long. This is why it’s very tough for me to believe that even if the next generation might make mistakes, or have missteps they will never truly make gigantic errors and will know how to ride things toward the next generation just as Miyamoto managed to do for everyone else including Iwata.

  2. I couldn’t agree enough. Nintendo is operated by the greatest minds in the video game industry. The people at the top as well as the people in the middle and the people at the bottom of the company are some of the greatest minds you will ever find in the world. Nintendo have a great business sense that seek opportunities that makes sense and capitalizes on all of their goals. The company is just simply well constructed, and they will most definitely be fine.