Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Division, shortened to Nintendo EPD, is the biggest part of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. This division creates and makes video games, mobile apps, and other entertainment software for the company. Nintendo EPD was formed in September 2015 when two divisions, Entertainment Analysis & Development and Software Planning & Development, were combined.

History

The division was formed on September 16, 2015, after combining two of Nintendo's previous software divisions, Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD) and Software Planning & Development (SPD), as part of a company-wide change in how Nintendo is organized under its new president, Tatsumi Kimishima.

The division took over the roles of its two earlier divisions, focusing on creating games and software for Nintendo platforms and mobile devices. It also manages and licenses the company's intellectual properties, as well as oversees the development of games by outside studios.

Shinya Takahashi, who was the general manager of Nintendo SPD before, holds the same title in the new division. Yoshiaki Koizumi, Katsuya Eguchi, Eiji Aonuma, and Hisashi Nogami are deputy general managers, while Kensuke Tanabe, Yoshio Sakamoto, and Takashi Tezuka are senior officers. These individuals had held these positions since the division was created. In 2017, Nogami was promoted. In 2019, Aonuma and Tanabe were promoted to higher roles within the division. By 2023, Takahashi and Koizumi were promoted to more senior positions. Takayuki Shimamura became a deputy general manager, and Aonuma and sound designer Koji Kondo became senior officers.

Structure

The Nintendo division is mainly located in Kyoto. It works like its two earlier groups before they merged. The division is divided into many groups. There are ten production groups that create or develop games. Each group has managers, producers, and project leads who work on specific game series and focus areas. These groups use the group of skilled workers in the division for each project. In the overall division, the general manager, deputy general managers, and senior officers supervise different parts of the production groups.

The division also includes Programming Management, Design Management, and Sound Management groups.

There are currently 9 game production groups within Nintendo EPD:

• Co-Production Group (used to be called Production Group No. 2 until 2023) creates most of the games made by outside studios and published by Nintendo, such as the Mario Tennis, Kirby, Xenoblade Chronicles, Fire Emblem, Pokémon, and Mario & Luigi series. This group includes staff from a former Production Group No. 1 that joined in 2020 and a former Production Group No. 7 that joined in 2023.
• Production Group No. 3 creates the main The Legend of Zelda series.
• Production Group No. 4 creates casual and experimental games such as Miitopia, 1-2-Switch, Nintendo Labo, Ring Fit Adventure, Jump Rope Challenge, Game Builder Garage, Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain, Nintendo Switch Sports, Everybody 1-2-Switch!, and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. The division also co-developed Alarmo with Nintendo TDD.
• Production Group No. 5, managed by Aya Kyogoku, creates the Animal Crossing and Splatoon series, and Drag x Drive.
• Production Group No. 6 oversees and creates games made by outside studios and published by Nintendo, such as the Paper Mario, Metroid Prime, and Luigi's Mansion series.
• Production Group No. 8 (also called Nintendo EPD Tokyo) creates 3D Super Mario games and 3D Donkey Kong games.
• Production Group No. 9 creates the Mario Kart series and Arms.
• Production Group No. 10 creates 2D Super Mario games (including Super Mario Maker) and the Pikmin series.
• Smart Device Production Group creates smartphone games with other EPD groups and also makes games for outside studios.