Nintendo Acquires Developer Next Level Games

Nintendo has acquired developer Next Level Games. The Canadian studio is best known for releasing the Luigi’s Mansion sequels, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Luigi’s Mansion 3. The studio’s other Nintendo games include the Mario Strikers games for the GameCube and Nintendo Wii, Punch-Out!!! for the Nintendo Wii, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the Nintendo 3DS.

The announcement comes from an official document from Nintendo of Japan that has been translated into English. It reads as follows: “NLG’s shares are currently held entirely by its owner-directors and employees. A number of owner-directors recently determined that the time is right for them to sell their shares, and NLG, therefore, began exploring potential sale transactions. Completion of the Acquisition will serve to secure the availability of NLG development resources for Nintendo, including development expertise, as well as facilitate an anticipated improvement in development speed and quality by enabling closer communication and exchange of staff with the Nintendo development team.”

The document also states that the acquisition will close on March 1, 2021.

Next Level Games is the second video game developer owned by Nintendo not to be located in Japan, with the other developer being Retro Studios, who are best known for the Metroid Prime trilogy and the recent Donkey Kong Country games.