Mario & Luigi: Brothership was one of the most hype announcements during the last Nintendo Direct, with Nintendo fans beyond excited to see what would be next for the two plumber brothers in the long-standing series.
One big part of the discussion after the Direct quickly turned to who would be developing and leading Mario & Luigi: Brothership. Past Mario & Luigi titles were created by AlphaDream, which has since shut down.
What happened to AlphaDream?
AlphaDream was a Japanese game studio that largely created games for Nintendo’s handheld console. This included all of the Mario & Luigi titles on top of Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020:
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003)
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (2005)
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (2009)
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (2013)
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (2015)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions (2017)
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr’s Journey (2019)
Unfortunately, the last two remakes didn’t do too well even with their extra content. They were actually the worst-selling games in the Mario franchise, with the 2019 game only selling 20,000 copies in Japan in its first two months. This was most likely due to the 3DS starting to decline in popularity.
AlphaDream was also struggling with massive debt equaling about $3.7 million. The unpopular remakes seemed to be the final blow, leaving AlphaDream with no choice but to file for bankruptcy.
Who is making Mario & Luigi: Brothership?
With AlphaDream out of the picture, fans are worried about who is making this latest Mario & Luigi title. Many enjoyed AlphaDream’s style, both visually and when it came to the game’s dialogue and humor.
Some even wondered if the series was dead after AlphaDream went under and were excited to see its return. But who would be making it this time?
Right now, it’s not public knowledge which studio is behind Mario & Luigi: Brothership.
“Super unexpected, wonder who the heck is developing this considering AlphaDream is dead? I’ll miss the pixel art but combat and animations looked smooth, not a bad first impression,” one fan wrote on Reddit.
A lot of Nintendo games are now made by Monolith Soft, including many big titles. This has led a lot of people to assume that this will be the studio behind Brothership.
For now, we’ll have to wait for more information to come out about Mario & Luigi: Brothership and the creatives and developers behind it.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
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