With a remarkable 98% employee retention, Nintendo's workforce averages 15 years of tenure.

“The people who first made Nintendo’s hits are still working at the company,” Keza MacDonald, the author of Super Nintendo, a forthcoming book about the developer, told me recently. “For the last 50 years, these people have been passing down knowledge and training up a new generation of Nintendo creatives.” 

Nintendo's leadership, both in terms of business and creativity, has a history of extended service with the firm. The present president, Shuntaro Furakawa, began his career at the company in 1994, working in accounting. Shigeru Miyamoto, the visionary behind popular series such as “Super Mario” and “The Legend of Zelda,”, started his employment in 1977 as a graphic designer. 

Companies that depend excessively on accumulated expertise may become rigid. However, Nintendo, as stated by MacDonald, has successfully merged its established knowledge with novel concepts, ensuring a constant stream of enjoyable games: “It’s not like the oldest guy gets to decide what’s a good idea and what isn’t. Everyone puts ideas in.”

Nintendo has experienced its share of unsuccessful ventures, experimental missteps, and questionable corporate choices, much like any other enterprise. Nevertheless, the company has managed to retain its position within the fiercely contested video game sector, contending with larger competitors possessing greater financial resources such as Sony and Microsoft. 

A small number of creators who departed Nintendo retain positive memories of their tenure. Lee Schuneman, who previously worked as a game designer for Nintendo and currently holds the position of chief product officer at Efekta Education Group, shared with Our Brainstorm Design attendees this week, “I got to work with some of the most talented game designers in the world, including people like [Shigeru Miyamoto] at Nintendo, and [learn] a whole range of lessons about how to make playful experiences.”

This positive sentiment could stem from Nintendo's ability to sidestep the sector's cyclical ups and downs and its recognition of the skills its employees gain.

Nintendo “is still, to this day, making games differently from everyone else,” MacDonald stated. You can view the remainder of our primary presentations from Brainstorm Design here.—Nicholas Gordon

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at [email protected]

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CEO Daily was compiled and edited by Jim Edwards and Lee Clifford.