Nintendo's Struggles in a Shifting Gaming Landscape

In the 1980’s Nintendo was on top of the world, with the NES achieving over 90% market share of home video games globally. So how did they fall ALL the way down to ~10% in just a few short console generations? And how did they then build themselves back up (and down and up again) to the top of the world again? Spoiler: it all hinged on one very small, yet very large and durable platform… the Game Boy. Fire up your favorite portable entertainment device and tune in for the epic story of Nintendo’s fall from grace and journey back to the top — capped off by our robust discussion of where they go from here, and whether this 130+ year old company may still (!) be misunderstood and mis-valued.

Sponsors:

WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn

More Acquired!:

• Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
• Join the Slack
• Subscribe to ACQ2
• Merch Store!

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Links:

• Our EA episode with Trip Hawkins
• Matthew Ball on why “Nintendo as Disney” is a flawed analogy
• Crossroads Capital’s investor letters outlining their Nintendo thesis
• Episode sources

Carve Outs:

• Kara Swisher in Vanity Fair (and our old episode with her!)
• Hardcore History (finally!)
• The Tetris movie
• Daryl Morey on Invest Like the Best

‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.