Nintendo And DeNA’s New Membership Service Will Replace Club Nintendo Rewards Program

In addition to developing smartphone games with Nintendo, DeNA will also help the company create its new membership service, Nintendo said today. This membership service will be compatible with Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PC, and smart devices.

During a Q&A at a joint press event with DeNA, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed that this new membership service will include a new royalty program to replace Club Nintendo, which shut down in January. While specifics were not shared on this front, Iwata has provided examples in the past of how the royalty program will allow discounts for frequent purchasers of games on Nintendo platforms.

Iwata did not discuss how the membership system will tie into Nintendo’s existing Nintendo Network service or if it will use Nintendo Network ID accounts. However, he did talk a little about how user data will be managed.

While Nintendo’s new membership service will be jointly developed with DeNA, Nintendo will own and manage all related user data, Iwata said. Some of this data will be shared with DeNA to allow them to develop smartphone games using Nintendo IP, but Iwata stated that both companies wish to avoid a situation where access to the user database is used in a negative manner.

DeNA CEO Isao Moriyasu added that accumulated data shared with DeNA will not be used for any separate kind of business by the company without consent from Nintendo.

The new membership service will launch this Fall. It is intended to be compatible with Nintendo and DeNA’s smartphone games, and also drive consumers to Nintendo’s dedicated videogame devices, such as the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and Nintendo’s next game platform, codenamed NX.

Presentation slide courtesy Nintendo.