Nintendo is keeping quiet about who made Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood, but says some “original developers” were involved

The original Mario and Luigi Developer Alpha Dream is no longer in existence, but Nintendo won’t reveal who made the recently released Brotherhood.

Earlier this week, Nintendo announced Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood, the first all-new entry in the spin-off RPG series in about nine years. It was a welcome way to kick off a Direct, especially for someone like me who’s a big fan of the series. However, there was a problem: the game’s original developer, AlphaDream, was shut down after filing for bankruptcy in 2019. This left the question of who is actually developing the surprise sequel. Game File reached out to Nintendo to find out which team might be working on this RPG, but received a response that “some of the original developers involved in the series were involved in the development of Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood. Stay tuned for more information on the developers when the game is credited when it’s released.”

As VGC points out, it’s unclear who Nintendo is talking about here, as many of the former AlphaDream employees have worked with Nintendo in other capacities, with series director and producer Yoshihiko Maekawa even overseeing a recent remake of Super Mario RPG. In recent years, Nintendo has become increasingly reluctant to reveal who is working on its games, often simply saying “stay tuned for credits when they’re released.” It’s unclear why Nintendo would choose to do this, which mostly obscures the fact that specific teams make its games rather than the developer itself.

Regardless, hopefully the new Mario & Luigi will still do well for Nintendo and become the third Mario RPG spinoff it releases in a year. Maybe it’s finally ready to admit that people do love these games, and like to do more than just hop on Goombas.

Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood will be released later this year on November 7th.