AlphaDream, the company responsible for the “Mario & Luigi” RPG series, declared bankruptcy after years of low profits and high development costs.
Founded in 2000, the company had former Square employees, from the company known for RPGs and for producing several genre classics. Initially named Alpha Star, AlphaDream became known in 2003 when it released Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for Game Boy Advance, critically acclaimed for its fun gameplay and detailed yet very humorous story.
Battles had many commands that depended on interaction between Mario and Luigi
The company followed that pattern from then on, releasing four sequels and two remakes, all on Nintendo handhelds and praised for the same reasons.
The company's most recent console title was the remake of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, released for Nintendo 3DS in 2019. It carried the subtitle “+ Bowser Jr.'s Journey” and had an extra mode focused on Bowser Jr.'s story.
Promotional art for the Bowser's Inside Story remake
The game was one of the last first-party titles released for Nintendo 3DS, while other developers were already focusing more on Nintendo Switch, which had been on the market for more than a year. This directly affected the game's sales, making it one of the least-selling Mario games in history: it sold approximately 10,000 units in Japan in its first week and fell out of the local Top 20 the following week.
For comparison, the other games in the series released on the handheld—Dream Team, Paper Jam, and Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions—sold approximately 2,500,000, 1,010,000, and 510,000 units worldwide since release. All data was provided by VGChartz.
Nintendo did not comment on the announcement, although hopeful fans expected a possible purchase of the company.
