Nintendo to Expand Character IPs Outside of Video Games

During its latest shareholder meeting, Nintendo revealed that the company plans to expand its licensing of its famous character intellectual properties to outside of video games.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata acknowledged that Nintendo is noted for having an "abundance of character IP," most likely due to rarely licensing them out to other parties, fearing it could damage the value of the character.

That is set to change, however, with Iwata revealing that Nintendo is actively looking for partners so as to expand its character licensing business. Nintendo has been selling character merchandise in the US for over a year, but the company wants to form licensing relationships in other areas, including the digital field, provided there would be no direct competition to them, and so long as they can form "win-win relationships."

This would be achieved globally, with the sole aim of increasing exposure of Nintendo characters to consumers, "by making them appear in places other than on video game platforms."