Nintendo Acquires Next Level Games - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 05 January 2021 / 3,102 Views
Nintendo announced it has acquired developer Next Level Games by purchasing 100 percent of the remaining outstanding shares in the Vancouver, Canada-based developer. The deal is expected to close on March 1.
Next Level Games has developed many games for the Nintendo Switch based on Nintendo IPs. The games include Luigi’s Mansion 3 for the Nintendo Switch, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the Nintendo 3DS, Mario Strikers Charged and Punch-Out!! for the Wii, and Super Mario Strikers for the GameCube.
Read the announcement post on the acquisition below:
Next Level Games is a video game development company based in Vancouver, Canada which has nearly two decades of experience creating video games for various console platforms. More recently, Next Level Games has worked exclusively with Nintendo in developing software titles for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch systems, including titles in the critically acclaimed Luigi’s Mansion series of video games.
Next Level Games’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 Next Level Games therefore began exploring potential sale transactions. Completion of the Acquisition will serve to secure the availability of Next Level Games 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 Acquisition is expected to close on March 1, 2021, pending satisfaction of all relevant terms and conditions, including shareholders’ approval, regulatory approval under the Investment Canada Act and other customary closing conditions.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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I'm surprised they took this long to buy it, they've been making Mario games for more than a decade.
Good. Now give me Punch Out 2!
Of all the studios they could have purchased, this has to be one of the better choices. They have been getting more and more impressive with each game. And Luigi's Mansion 3 really put them over the top.
I just hope some of the talent doesn't leave after the acquisition. If employees owned some stock too, they might be tempted to move on once they get their buyout. There's probably a higher risk of losing executives since they'll be more heavily compensated. That could still be a major blow if they were responsible for the high quality.
Luigi's Mansion 3 is probably their best work yet. However, they have been a very consistent, reliable dev in terms of producing quality games even before that.
Seems like a good choice on Nintendo's part though.
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