VanceIX said:
80% share does mean controlling share, yes, but it doesn't make them first-party, not quite. Namco-Bandai, I believe, owned the majority of the rest of the share, so they had some control over the future of the company. It wasn't until 2011 that Nintendo bought them out completely, thus making them fully under control of Nintendo. Edit: "Namco Bandai is considering the sale as a way to strengthen its relationship with Nintendo and is not entirely ending its involvement with Monolith Soft. Namco Bandai will retain 16 percent of the developer's shares and will continue to count the studio among its partners. " http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-buys-monolith-soft/1100-6169813/ |
They were fully under control of Nintendo in 07. You don't have to own 100% of a company to control them. Even now Monolith's managers own a few shares in the studio.
