One of the more interesting announcements to come out of Nintendo’s financial briefing today was that President Tatsumi Kimishima, who stepped in after the untimely demise of Mr. Satoru Iwata, and who expertly steered Nintendo through the Switch launch, will be stepping down this June. In his place we will get Shuntaro Furukawa, a veteran of the company for 24 years.
What is Mr. Furukawa like? Well, in a press conference, a quote by him seemed to indicate what kind of future we might be looking at for Nintendo under him. “Nintendo “should focus on things that only we can provide,” said Mr. Furukawa. “Otherwise Nintendo would lose a reason to exist.”
This seems to suggest that, much like Mr. Iwata, Mr. Furukawa understands that Nintendo’s resilience is owed in its uniqueness and its IP, and that going head to head with Sony and Microsoft would be to its detriment. This is a philosophy that has served Nintendo well, most recently with the Switch- hopefully, Mr. Furukawa can stay the course.
