Nintendo agrees to take over Canadian studio Next Level Games
Nintendo has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Next Level Games, based in Vancouver, Canada, to become a subsidiary. The deal is expected to be completed on March 1 of this year.
The takeover is not entirely unexpected: Next Level Games has developed a number of exclusive games for Nintendo in the past. These include Super Mario Strikers for the GameCube, Mario Strikers Charged and Punch-Out !! for Wii, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Metroid Prime: Federation Force for 3DS, and finally Luigi’s Mansion 3 for Switch.
Next Level Games describes itself as a video game development company based in Vancouver with nearly twenty years of experience creating video games for various consoles. Most recently, she has worked exclusively with Nintendo on projects for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch systems.
The company’s shares are currently wholly owned by its owner-directors and employees. As reported in the announcement, key shareholders recently decided it was time to sell their securities, and so Next Level Games began exploring options. Following the takeover, the team will continue to create games for Nintendo. The speed and quality of development are also expected to improve through closer interaction and experience sharing with Nintendo.
