Nintendo is buying an animation studio. The company announced on July 14, 2022, that it is acquiring Japan-based Dynamo Pictures. According to Nintendo’s press release, the acquisition is intended to “strengthen the planning and production structure of visual content in the Nintendo group.” The acquisition is expected to cost 34.5 million JPY (about $250,000 USD).
When the deal closes in October 2022, Dynamo Pictures will be renamed “Nintendo Pictures.” It will focus on “the development of visual content utilizing Nintendo IP (Intellectual Property).”
Dynamo Pictures isn’t particularly well-known among anime fans. However, the CG animation studio has helped with a variety of productions throughout the anime industry. Dynamo is credited with work on the Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 film, creating models of the Evangelion units. It assisted with CG animation for Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, Back Arrow, Harlock: Space Pirate, Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, Yuri!!! on Ice, and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. It also performed motion capture for games like Monster Hunter Stories, Persona 5, Death Stranding, and even the remake of NieR Replicant. It’s even done MX4D work, adapting films like Demon Slayer: Mugen Train and Evangelion 3.0+1.0 to the environmental effects of MX4D “Immersive Seating.”
Importantly, Dynamo Pictures has worked with Nintendo before as well. In 2014, it helped produce the Pikmin Short Movies, a series of CG shorts based on the Pikmin games.
Nintendo’s acquisition of Dynamo closes in October 2022.
