Nintendo acquires Shiver Entertainment to help with future Switch ports

While we regularly see PlayStation and Xbox making headlines for acquisitions and mergers, Nintendo rarely ventures into the M&A arena. Typically, Nintendo makes smaller moves when acquiring additional studios and that continues to be the case now, with Nintendo announcing plans to acquire Shiver Entertainment. 

Shiver Entertainment was previously owned by Embracer Group and the company's primary purpose was to help other studios port their games to additional platforms, like Nintendo Switch. Notably, Shiver was previously behind the Switch ports of Hogwarts Legacy and Mortal Kombat 1 in 2023.

The Miami-based studio is now breaking away from Embracer Group. The parent company has been in a year-long ‘restructuring' effort, which has led to several studios being closed, while others have been sold off. Aside from Shiver Entertainment, Embracer Group has also sold off Saber Interactive and Gearbox Entertainment, amongst other studios.

Under Nintendo, Shiver Entertainment will continue to operate as it did before, focusing on commission work to port or assist in the development of titles for platforms like the Nintendo Switch, where more cuts need to be made to get the game running acceptably on less powerful hardware compared to the traditional home consoles (Xbox/PlayStation) and PC.

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KitGuru Says: Hopefully this is a sign that Nintendo is looking to entice more third-party studios to support the next-generation Switch. Nintendo's new-gen console will no doubt be less powerful than a PS5 or Xbox Series X. However, as we've seen with the original Switch, there are ways to get those high-detail titles running on mobile hardware.  

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