ShareThis
Next Level Games is known for developing the Super Mario Strikers games, Punch-Out!! for Wii, and 2013’s Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. While the Vancouver studio has handled several of Nintendo’s IPs, you might be surprised to know that it is an independent developer rather than a second party of Nintendo. So naturally, Next Level has dabbled in other ventures since its inception in 2002. A hockey game for Midway, a title set in the Transformers universe, and a Captain America game are just a few games on its resume.
However, in a recent interview with Gamesutra, Next Level Games co-founder Jason Carr revealed that the studio is now working only on games for Nintendo, and doesn’t plan to work on projects for other companies in the foreseeable future. Carr and Ken Yeeloy, the producer of Dark Moon, discussed their great working relationship with Nintendo.
Jason Carr: We have worked with a lot of other companies before, and we’re super happy with our relationship with Nintendo. There’s no reason to look anywhere else. They keep giving us better and better IP to work with, and as long as we do our job and make good games for them there’s no reason for us to venture out.
Because we’re still a small shop. We’re under 70 people. We like that size. For us, we’re like, why would you want to go and talk with these other guys? What’s it doing for your business? The guys in the company are just really, really proud of the company and proud of the games they work on.
Could this hint at the possibility of more than one Next Level Games Nintendo production in the pipeline? The prospect of bigger and better IP also sounds very interesting. Up until now, Next Level has worked on more low key releases, like a spin-off and a long dormant franchise. With Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Next Level Games showed they could make big games just as well as any of Nintendo’s second parties. What series could they be working on next?
Source: Gamasutra
