AlphaDream, developer of Mario & Luigi, files for bankruptcy

[Arm Pit Cream]

AlphaDream, developer of Mario & Luigi, files for bankruptcy

AlphaDream, the developer of the acclaimed series of Mario & Luigi RPGs for Nintendo, has filed for bankruptcy. This is a shocking development.

www.nintendoenthusiast.com

AlphaDream, developer of Mario & Luigi, files for bankruptcy

archived 2 Oct 2019 07:18:05 UTC

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Spoiler

AlphaDream, the developer of the acclaimed series of Mario & Luigi RPGs for Nintendo, has filed for bankruptcy. This news comes from trusted source Japanese Nintendo, who also notes, “Company turnover was ¥300m ($2.78m) in March 2014 but the company’s debts were as high as ¥465m ($4.3m) by March 2018.” Regardless, this comes as a shocking development.

Though the company apparently existed in some form beginning in 1991, AlphaDream has existed as a video game developer since 2000, when it started as Alpha Star. Even before Mario & Luigi, the developer found its niche in RPGs with Japan-only Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito on Game Boy Color and also Japan-only Tomato Adventure on Game Boy Advance. Although, the company dabbled in licensed Hamtaro games as well.

AlphaDream struck gold in 2003 with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on Game Boy Advance, taking the same general look and feel of Tomato Adventure and applying it brilliantly to Nintendo’s mascot franchise. This series, in overall tone, has been the closest thing we have ever gotten to a Super Mario RPG 2, and it has been quite well regarded by fans and critics alike. Last year, the developer was actually hiring for new projects (including for Switch), which we perhaps may never see now.

A bankruptcy isn’t the kind of news we like to report on past midnight at Nintendo Enthusiast, folks. Let’s cheer each other up by talking about our favorite moments from AlphaDream’s catalogue.

News originally from https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20191002-00010002-teikokudb-ind

How very tragic. The Mario and Luigi RPGs hold a special place in my heart, they're a huge part of my childhood that was even able to transition into my older years as lighthearted experiences. Since Bowser's Inside Story, their quality was dipping but I didn't expect this so suddenly after they just remade their classic games on 3ds. It's a damn shame we won't see a new M&L game utilizing the Switch's power and features.


If you want to know why? It was continuing declining sales, particularly with the 3ds remake of Bowser's Inside story which is the worst selling Mario game since the Virtual Boy era in Japan, likely the final nail in the coffin.
I hope all AlphaDream employees are easily able to find new work with their talent or maybe even start a new studio.

In their memory, let's remember all the good times we had playing these gems.

 

[MasterDisaster]

Such is the gaming industry. Remember when Bioware made the Sonic the Hedgehog rpg?
Yeah, no one else does either.

At least these games have a cult following.

 

[Marco Fucko]

I remember the original game pretty well. It was pretty fun and reminded me a bit of Paper Mario, and had a lot of character for a GBA rpgs with two silent protagonists. RIP.

 

[Slap47]

Both Paper Mario and Mario&Luigi are both dead. Shame.

Wasn't a fan of Bowser's Inside Story and haven't had a Nintendo system since. This will probably lead to Nintendo doubling down on not putting any effort into worldbuilding.

 

[Wish I knew]

As depressing as this is, at least they didn't go the mobile gacha route or put any DLC in them so I can thank them for that. It's a shame since i enjoyed the first three games.

 

[Sneak 'n' Snore]

The poor sales for the remakes had me worried but I really didn't expect it to come to this.

Fuck man. Paper Mario still has yet to recover and show lifesigns and now Mario & Luigi is dead.
I replayed the first 3 games countless times, Superstar Saga is one of my all time favorite games.
Why didn't they just go over to the Switch instead of sticking to the 3DS at the end of its lifespan?

 

[Dom Cruise]

Now that really sucks, but I've only played Superstar Saga.

But what a great game that was and man, what a great console the GBA was, which is ironic as hell considering there was a literal sea of shovelware garbage and yet what was good about the GBA was good enough to transcend that (same deal with the DS as well)

However I wasn't even aware for all this time that the Mario & Luigi series wasn't developed by Nintendo, sucks to only hear about a developer thanks to their closure.

 

[Wish I knew]

Why didn't they just go over to the Switch instead of sticking to the 3DS at the end of its lifespan?

I think it may have had to do with Alpha Dream either not receiving a switch development kit, expecting high sales for the later 3DS titles before starting development, or having a switch title stuck in development hell. It may have been because they've had more experience with handhelds than consoles and that switching to the switch would be a costly development. Also a thing the article doesn't mention is that one of the reasons they filed for bankruptcy was due to high development costs for their games and the only source i can find on that is a Japanese Yahoo News article

Spoiler: From the Yahoo article

　"However, in recent years, as revenues have been sluggish, the burden of development costs has been heavy, and strict management has been forced, such as deficit settlement and financial content continuing to exceed debt. Since then, business performance has not recovered and it has become difficult to continue the business.

　The debt is approximately 465 million yen as of the end of March 2018."
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20191002-00010002-teikokudb-ind

Here's hoping Nintendo acquires them or that the workers there manage to find a job and even though it's highly unlikely maybe some fans can make a new official Mario and Luigi game like what Sega did with Mania .

 

[Kulee Baba]

I totally blame a lousy platform for their decline. I'm sorry but the 3DS is Nintendo's lamest hardware, sad they won't get one last shot with a Switch game.

 

[Plasmapheresis]

Wow, what a damn shame. I had a ton of fun playing Superstar Saga years ago.

really SAD. Maybe I'll replay it again to remember the good times

 

[heyilikeyourmom]

I’ve never played any of the games on the polling list so I feel at least partially responsible for this.

 

[Coolio55]

I legit don't think mario and luigi or paper mario would work in the current gaming era.
Sad but what can you do?

 

[Picnic_Boy]

I'll always love AlphaDream for bringing back the Koopalings when no one else would.

 

[BananaSplit]

I totally blame a lousy platform for their decline. I'm sorry but the 3DS is Nintendo's lamest hardware, sad they won't get one last shot with a Switch game.

The hardware is less at fault for the terrible decisions that were used for the remakes, such as the downgraded artstyle. Then again, we had someone at Nintendo who has decided long time ago (from an interview) that the Paper Mario games shouldnt feature koopas, boos, toads, etc with individual designs.

 

[Dr. Geronimo]

Superstar saga was amazing, and I enjoyed partners in time, but once they added that dumb sidekick I noped the fuck out.

 

[BOONES]

Well that sucks. I actually liked those games. Never truly finished most of them but still.

 

[Robotron]

The poor sales for the remakes had me worried but I really didn't expect it to come to this.

Fuck man. Paper Mario still has yet to recover and show lifesigns and now Mario & Luigi is dead.
I replayed the first 3 games countless times, Superstar Saga is one of my all time favorite games.
Why didn't they just go over to the Switch instead of sticking to the 3DS at the end of its lifespan?

Guess that Bowser's Inside Story remake was one last attempt for them to raise some money, shame it didn't end up working out in the end though.

 

[Marissa Moira]

I legit don't think mario and luigi or paper mario would work in the current gaming era.
Sad but what can you do?

>can't work in current era
>the same era that has Persona, Dragon Quest, Xenoblade, Tales of, Atelier, and even has the return of the fucking Mana series.

If you can't make an RPG work it's because you made it bad.

 

[Vault Boy]

I never played a Mario & Luigi game as I was more into the original Paper Mario games, but I hope the developers find a way to get back on their feet. Since this also means that the series is more or less dormant now, I also feel bad for the fans. Believe me, I know how much it hurts to see a favorite series wither away.

On a more selfish note, I would say that I hope this means Nintendo will stop using Paper Mario as a guinea pig for half baked experiments now that they lost their "main" Mario RPG series, but we all thought they'd take the hint about how hated Sticker Star was. A part of me is hopeful given how they've changed since the Wii/Wii U era, but another part of me is dreading about whatever new "brilliant" ideas they have for the next game.

 

[Coolio55]

>can't work in current era
>the same era that has Persona, Dragon Quest, Xenoblade, Tales of, Atelier, and even has the return of the fucking Mana series.

If you can't make an RPG work it's because you made it bad.

Yeah but nearly every lighthearted JRPG on the market is trying to be paper mario/mario and luigi at this point. Even Mario's mainstream games are at least semi self aware now (and the unique races were dropped a long time ago). It's a niche that no longer exists.