Universal Studios Japan to Spend 40 Billion Yen for Nintendo Attractions, Completion by 2020

A developing partnership between Nintendo and Universal Studios saw the announcement of Nintendo-based attractions coming to Universal Studios parks last year. It seems the agreement has extended to Universal Studios’ Japanese park, as Universal Japan is set to spend 40 billion yen on Nintendo attractions for the park. With the investment in place, Universal Japan plans to complete these Nintendo-based attractions — which will be housed on the left side of the park’s main gate — by the year 2020.

Sankei West reported that the partnership between Nintendo and Universal Parks was extending to Japan, with Universal set to spend 40 billion yen (about $350 million USD) on Nintendo attractions for its Japanese park. The attractions are to be housed on the left side of the park’s main gate, with completion planned for 2020, just in time for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

It was originally assumed that the partnership between Nintendo and Universal would result in a single Mario-themed attraction for the Japanese theme park; but with such a large-scale investment (about the same level as the park’s Harry Potter-themed area), it is believed that the partnership will now result in a number of Nintendo-based attractions, including rides, restaurants, and shops.

With the new attractions being placed on the left side of the park’s main gate — an area currently used for events — a large degree of expansion could potentially take place in the park, making room for the Nintendo attractions and office space.

With Universal Studios investing so much in Nintendo, we hope to see similar attractions in Universal parks around the US as well.

Are you excited to see Nintendo attractions coming to Universal Studios? What types of attractions do you hope to see? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Sankei West (via Nintendo Everything)

Rod Lloyd

Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net