Skip to main content

Nintendo is buying the North American studio behind 'Luigi's Mansion 3,' a rare move for the 132-year-old Japanese company (NTDOY)

Luigi's Mansion 3"Luigi's Mansion 3"/Nintendo

Summary List Placement

In a rare move for the Japanese gaming powerhouse, Nintendo is buying the game studio behind the smash-hit "Luigi's Mansion 3" for the Nintendo Switch.

Canadian studio Next Level Games will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo on March 1 — "pending satisfaction of all relevant terms and conditions" — which Nintendo says will enable, "an anticipated improvement in development speed and quality." 

Nintendo and Next Level Games have worked together for years, going all the way back to the Nintendo GameCube with "Super Mario Strikers" in 2005. More recently, Next Level created "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon" for the Nintendo 3DS, and its wildly popular followup "Luigi's Mansion 3" for the Nintendo Switch.

The latter entry has sold nearly 8 million copies since launch on October 31, 2019, according to Nintendo.

Read more: Amid a huge lawsuit against Apple and Google, video-gaming giant Epic Games just signed a nearly $100 million deal to build a massive new headquarters

Of note, Nintendo rarely purchases third-party game studios.

The last major game studio Nintendo purchased was over 10 years ago, when it bought RPG-maker Monolith Soft. Nintendo's first-party game development is largely handled in Japan, with European and North American arms of the company serving as localization and marketing.

If the acquisition is approved, Next Level Games will become Nintendo's second game development studio in North America — Retro Studios, based in Texas, was purchased by Nintendo back in 2002. 

Got a tip? Contact Business Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email (bgilbert@businessinsider.com), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

NOW WATCH: This incredible animation shows how deep the ocean really is

See Also:

SEE ALSO: A new Nintendo Switch, the first major PS5 games, and the next 'Halo' entry: These are the 5 biggest things to expect from gaming in 2021

Data & News supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Stock quotes supplied by Barchart
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.