Company:Next Level Games

From HandWiki
Next Level Games, Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedAugust 22, 2002; 23 years ago (2002-08-22)[1]
FoundersEric Randall
Douglas Tronsgard
Jason Carr
David Catlin
HeadquartersVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Key people
Alex MacFarlane[2] (managing director)
Number of employees
166 (2025)
ParentNintendo (2021–present)
Website{{{1}}}

Next Level Games, Inc. is a Canadian video game developer owned by Nintendo since 2021 and based in Vancouver. Founded in August 2002 by former members of EA Black Box who worked on games such as Sega Soccer Slam and NHL Hitz titles, Next Level Games specializes in creating console video games. The company's first project was NHL Hitz Pro, which was published by Midway Games in 2003 and followed up from EA Black Box's prior entries in the NHL Hitz series. The company is best known for its work with Nintendo, developing titles including the Mario Strikers games and Punch-Out!! for the Wii, Software:Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Software:Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the Nintendo 3DS, and Luigi's Mansion 3 for the Nintendo Switch.[3][4]

Among other awards, Next Level Games has been named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" and one of BC's Top Employers in 2008, 2009 and 2012. The company has been featured in Maclean's magazine and BC Business magazine.

History

In January 2014, the studio announced that it would work exclusively with Nintendo from then on.[5][6] In that same interview, co-founder Jason Carr and producer Ken Yeeloy revealed that it was Nintendo who approached Next Level Games in the first place to develop Super Mario Strikers for the GameCube due to much of the team's prior work on Sega Soccer Slam at EA Black Box.[7]

In January 2021, Nintendo announced that it had purchased Next Level Games after "A number of owner-directors recently determined that the time is right for them to sell their shares, and NLG therefore began exploring potential sale transactions".[8] According to Nintendo's 2021 annual report, this acquisition took place on March 31st, 2021.[9] Co-founder Tronsgard would later retire from the studio by March 2022.[10]

List of games developed

List of games developed by Next Level Games
Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s)
2003 NHL Hitz Pro GameCube
Xbox
PlayStation 2 		Midway Games
2005 Super Mario Strikers GameCube Nintendo
2007 Mario Strikers Charged Wii
Software:Spider-Man: Friend or Foe PlayStation 2
Xbox 360
Wii 		Activision
2008 Ticket to Ride Xbox 360 Playful Entertainment
2009 Jungle Speed Wii
Punch-Out!! Nintendo
Doc Louis's Punch-Out!!
2010 Software:Transformers: Cybertron Adventures Activision
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Ubisoft
2011 Software:Captain America: Super Soldier Xbox 360
PlayStation 3 		Sega
2012 Microsoft Solitaire Collection[lower-alpha 1][11] Microsoft Windows
iOS
Android 		Xbox Game Studios
2013 Software:Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Nintendo 3DS Nintendo
2016 Software:Metroid Prime: Federation Force
2019 Luigi's Mansion 3 Nintendo Switch
2022 Software:Mario Strikers: Battle League
Notes
  1. ↑ Co-developed with Arkadium and Smoking Gun Interactive

Cancelled

References

  1. ↑ "Notification of the Acquisition of the Canadian Software Developer, Next Level Games". Nintendo. January 5, 2021. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2021/210105e.pdf. 
  2. ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-macfarlane-1542/ [self-published source]
  3. ↑ "Hands-On With The Secret-Filled Luigi's Mansion 3" (in en). June 12, 2019. https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/06/hands-on-with-the-secret-filled-luigis-mansion-3/. 
  4. ↑ Phillips, Tom (July 17, 2019). "Luigi's Mansion 3 gets the spookiest release date possible" (in en). https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-07-17-luigis-mansion-3-gets-the-spookiest-release-date-possible. 
  5. ↑ Phillips, Tom (January 9, 2014). "Luigi's Mansion 2 dev will now work exclusively with Nintendo". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-09-luigis-mansion-2-dev-will-now-work-exclusively-with-nintendo. 
  6. ↑ "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon developer Next Level Games signs second-party deal with Nintendo". ScrewAttack.com. January 9, 2014. http://www.screwattack.com/news/luigis-mansion-dark-moon-developer-next-level-games-signs-second-party-deal-nintendo/. 
  7. ↑ Nutt, Christian (January 8, 2014). "Working with Nintendo, making a studio great for developers". Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/working-with-nintendo-making-a-studio-great-for-developers. 
  8. ↑ McFerran, Damien (January 5, 2021). "Nintendo Is Buying Luigi's Mansion Studio Next Level Games". https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/01/nintendo_is_buying_luigis_mansion_studio_next_level_games. 
  9. ↑ "Annual Report 2021 (page 54)". July 19, 2021. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2021/annual2103e.pdf. 
  10. ↑ Doolan, Liam (March 4, 2022). "Co-Founder Of Nintendo-Owned Studio Next Level Games Announces Retirement". https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/03/co-founder-of-nintendo-owned-studio-next-level-games-announces-retirement. 
  11. ↑ "Tom's guide to Microsoft Solitaire Collection". July 29, 2020. https://www.tomsguide.com/how-to/how-to-download-microsoft-solitaire-collection. 
  12. ↑ "Next Level Games was working on a WWE game that was cancelled by publisher THQ". Unseen64.net. February 18, 2012. https://www.unseen64.net/2012/02/18/wwe-titans-parts-unknown-ps2-xbox-cancelled/. 
  13. ↑ "Super Mario Spikers is a cancelled volleyball/wrestling hybrid game developed by Next Level Games". Unseen64.net. August 6, 2011. https://www.unseen64.net/2011/08/06/super-mario-spikers-wii-prototype/. 
  14. ↑ "Next Level Games was working on an Action title known as "Catalyst"". Unseen64.net. July 12, 2010. https://www.unseen64.net/2010/07/12/catalyst-xbox-360-ps3-pitch-cancelled/. 
  15. ↑ "Next Level Games Was Working on a Puzzle-Platformer Called "Clockwerk"". Gamnesia.com. January 12, 2015. http://www.gamnesia.com/news/next-level-games-was-working-on-a-puzzle-platformer-called-clockwerk/. 
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