Nintendo hiring programmers for smartphone games
New job ads point to Nintendo gearing up for its planned mobile entries to Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem, and likely more games in the future.
Following a report that Nintendo is developing new entries in its Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem series for iOS and Android devices, Nintendo has issued job openings for programmers interested in working on smartphone games at the company's Kyoto-based headquarters (via NeoGAF).
The listing calls for software development engineers interested in Nintendo's "full-time career-track course," with a focus on mobile games. Programmers interested in applying should be fluent in C/C++, and have experience writing mobile games and applications.
Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem titles are expected to hit mobile platforms this fall. Miitomo, Nintendo's first foray onto smartphones and tablets, launched earlier this fall to mixed reception. Pokémon Go, an AR mobile game in development at Niantic, will also be available later this year.
Players worried that a greater concentration on mobile games may compromise Nintendo's commitment to dedicated game platforms such as NX can rest easy. If that were the case, Nintendo would likely pluck developers from internal teams such as EAD (Entertainment Analysis and Design), the group responsible for crafting Mario and Zelda titles, and shuffle them over to a smartphone team.
By opening positions to outside talent, Nintendo is reaffirming one of its longest-running business tenets: putting eggs in more than one basket. Nintendo operates according to pillars. In the past, those pillars were comprised of consoles and handhelds. Mobile development is poised to become a third pillar—or perhaps a second, if rumors that Nintendo's NX is an all-in-one console and handheld device pan out.
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