Nintendo

Nintendo makes video games and the consoles that run them, including the Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and Switch Lite. Its studios build the Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon games, along with Donkey Kong, Splatoon, Kirby, Animal Crossing and Metroid. Nintendo Switch Online lets players go online and access older games, and amiibo figures unlock extra content in games. The company is based in Kyoto, Japan, and its US arm, Nintendo of America, is based in Redmond, Washington.

Nintendo was founded in 1889 to make Japanese playing cards called karuta, long before it made video games. It is a public company traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and posted revenue of 2.31 trillion yen in fiscal year 2026. That matters more than it sounds: game companies come and go, but Nintendo has sold over 860 million consoles and more than 5.9 billion games worldwide, so it has weathered cycles other studios haven't survived. The company has 8,666 employees as of 2026, and its permanent headcount grew by 300 in the same fiscal year.¹