Nintendo

The games shareholders asked for

Nintendo began in Kyoto in 1889, when Fusajiro Yamauchi started making and selling hanafuda playing cards. Games have also featured in its shareholders’ requests for perks.

A shareholder asked Nintendo for a 20% discount on its software at the 2010 annual meeting. Satoru Iwata replied that individual shareholders often requested special benefits. In 2013, he said Nintendo had not introduced any shareholder benefit plans: institutional holders could not use them, and shareholders as a whole might not approve of paying for them.

Club Nintendo gifts inspired a request

A holder named two games at the 2014 meeting: Tingle’s Balloon Fight DS and Game & Watch Collection, which they described as presents for Club Nintendo members. The holder suggested similar games as shareholder perks.

Managing director Tatsumi Kimishima explained the difficulties. Gifts would cost money, and some individual shareholders might already own the game Nintendo sent them. Some holders had asked for a higher dividend instead.

A shareholder returned to the idea in 2023, asking for original benefits that would please Nintendo fans. Furukawa said dividends suited its varied shareholders, including institutions, because they returned profits equally. He said Nintendo would continue considering appropriate ways to reward shareholders.

The meeting moved off campus

Shareholders also pressed Nintendo to make its shares more affordable. A holder said in 2013 that one trading unit cost more than ¥1 million; another put the cost at nearly ¥5 million in 2020 and asked for a share split.

Nintendo split its shares in October 2022. Furukawa explained in 2025 that shareholder numbers had since risen so much that the annual meeting needed an outside venue. Nintendo had used a large conference room at its Development Center until 2022.

Nintendo reported 484,413 shareholders at 31 March 2026. Its shares normally trade in units of 100.