Nintendo Pictures is credited in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach releases tomorrow, but some players already have access to Hideo Kojima’s latest epic on Early Access. While nobody is expected to have finished the game so early, reviewers on VGC who looked closely the end credits found something interested: Nintendo worked on the game!

While the game has been developed by Kojima Productions (an independent company, despite the game being distributed by Sony), Nintendo Pictures is listed in the credits of the game. Specifically, Nintendo Pictures, a CG animation studio with motion capture facilities in Tokyo.

It is not strange, as the company, originally called Dynamo Pictures, used to be independent, before Nintendo acquired them in 2022 and renamed it Nintendo Pictures to develop “visual content utilising Nintendo IP”. Prior to the acquisition, Dynamo had worked on the original Death Stranding as well as other third party games like Final Fantast XIII-2, Nier Replicant, Persona 5 or Monster Hunter World, providing CG content or motion capture. Much earlier, Dynamo also made the CG cutscenes in Metroid Other M for Wii and the Pikmin short films for Wii U and 3DS.

After Nintendo bought them, they have only worked in games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Super Mario RPG, and Another Code: Recollection. However, it is not impossible to assume that Kojima was already working with them for Death Stranding 2 prior the Nintendo acquisition in 2022.