Nintendo keeps team behind Mario & Luigi: Brothership a secret, but confirms “original developers” from the RPG’s bankrupt studio are involved

AlphaDream went bankrupt in 2019 after seven Mario & Luigi RPGs

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Nintendo is once again staying tight-lipped about the studio behind one of its upcoming games - this time, the company declined to confirm who’s making Mario & Luigi: Brothership.

The Mario & Luigi RPG spin-off series hasn’t received a new game in nine whole years, partly because the series' original developers AlphaDream went bankrupt in 2019 after releasing seven turn-based games about our Italian brother’s joint dream-incepting, time-travelling, Bowser-entering adventures. DuringJune 2024’s Nintendo Direct, the publisher announced thatthe duo would be making a comeback across “seafaring islands” in Mario & Luigi: Brothership, coming November 7, but stopped short of confirming who was behind the latest romp.

When asked about which studio is behind the game, Nintendo gave a now-familiar answer toGame File: “Some of the original developers who worked on the franchise are involved in the development of Mario & Luigi: Brothership. For more information about the developers, please stay tuned to the game credits at release.”

Nintendo has been oddly secretive about the developers behind some of its third-party games, as itrefused to creditthe Super Mario RPG studio pre-release. This became amajor talking pointwhen Nintendo similarly wouldn’t confirm Good Feel as the developers behind this year’s Princess Peach: Showtime, despite the studio’s stellar reputation.

Nintendo’s secretive habit is definitely unusual in an industry that normally shares such information via a press release or a logo at the end of trailers. Maybe the company wants to retain aDisney-esque air of mystery around its releases as if these magical games grow on even more magical trees. But, hey, turning your developers into selling points isn’t a bad thing - knowing Christopher Nolan directed Oppenheimer didn’t hurt the box office, right?

For now, check out all theupcoming Nintendo Switch gamesyou should keep an eye out.

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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.

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