Mario & Luigi RPG Developer Files for Bankruptcy

Developer AlphaDream filed for bankruptcy this week. The studio developed the Mario & Luigi RPG series for the Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS and 3DS, among others. The developer appeared to be working on PS4 and Nintendo Switch games last year.

AlphaDream cites, among other things, high development costs as the reason for the bankruptcy, Yahoo Japan reports. The developer previously mainly made games for Nintendo handhelds and smartphones. However, last year, according to Resetera, a job posting for Nintendo Switch and PS4 game development appeared on the studio’s website. These consoles are significantly more powerful than handheld devices, so the development costs are likely to be higher as well.

In addition to the high development costs, AlphaDream reports that the company’s turnover is disappointing, leaving it with a debt of 465 million yen. Converted that is about 4 million euros. The company therefore sees no opportunity to go further.

AlphaDream started in 1991 as a construction company. In 2000, the studio started developing games under a new name. A year later, the developer released its first game for the GameBoy Color, Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito.

In 2003, AlphaDream released the first Mario & Luigi game in the form of SuperStar Saga. The game was well received by critics and has a Metacritic score of 90 out of 100. The developer released a total of seven Mario & Luigi RPGs. AlphaDream’s last game was Kedama no Gonjiro: Fit & Ru. This smartphone game was released in Japan on April 4.

The most recent Mario & Luigi game. Photo by Nintendo via YouTube