Next Level Games

What Next Level Games does

Next Level Games is a Vancouver, Canada-based video game development studio and wholly-owned subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd., founded in 2001–2002 and acquired by Nintendo in 2014. The studio develops premium single-title video games exclusively for Nintendo platforms (GameCube, Wii, 3DS, and Switch), with a portfolio spanning the Mario Strikers sports-action franchise, the Luigi's Mansion horror-adventure franchise, Punch-Out!!, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Its most recent major release is Mario Strikers: Battle League for Nintendo Switch (2022); prior releases include Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch, 2019), which won multiple industry awards including 2019 Best Family Game at The Game Awards and 2020 BAFTA Best Animation. The studio is currently collaborating with Retro Studios and Virtuos on Metroid Prime 4 development.

The studio's product architecture is single-studio, single-IP-per-project rather than platform-as-a-service: each title is a standalone premium product developed and published under Nintendo IP. Internally, Next Level Games operates a "pod-system" collaborative structure with veteran mentorship, located in a downtown Vancouver office, and recruits coders, designers, illustrators, and animators. As a wholly-owned subsidiary, it has no independent publishing, no external customers, and no disclosed consumer pricing; all output reaches market through Nintendo's eShop and retail channels.

Revenue is generated exclusively through development for its sole publisher and parent, Nintendo Co., Ltd., with no licensing or platform revenue independent of the parent relationship. With 101–250 employees, the studio's commercial footprint is structurally contained by Nintendo's franchise allocation and hardware roadmap, and it is currently expanding its franchise scope for the first time into Metroid via the Metroid Prime 4 collaboration.

Name

Next Level Games

Legal name

Next Level Games Inc.

Website

https://nextlevelgames.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Next Level Games is a Vancouver-based video game development studio and wholly-owned subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd., developing premium games exclusively for Nintendo platforms across franchises including Mario Strikers, Luigi's Mansion, and Metroid.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Video Game Development

akta.pro primary industry

AAA & Premium Game Studios (PC/Console) (MPAFAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Console Platform Publishing & Licensing (First-Party Platform Holder Programs) (MPAFABAD)

Keywords

• Video game development
• Nintendo game studio
• Console game development
• Action sports games
• Game development subsidiary

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Game Development for Nintendo: Next Level Games develops video games as a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo. Revenue is generated through the development of game titles that are published and distributed by Nintendo on Nintendo platforms.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Next Level Games is a Vancouver-based video game development studio and wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd. that designs, develops, and ships full console game titles for Nintendo platforms including the Nintendo Switch, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo GameCube. The studio's portfolio spans sports-action titles (Mario Strikers series), horror-adventure games (Luigi's Mansion series), boxing (Punch-Out!!), and first-person shooters (Metroid Prime: Federation Force), all developed under Nintendo's intellectual property licensing.

Product overview

Next Level Games is a video game development studio that creates sports and action games primarily featuring Nintendo franchises. The company operates as a single-studio developer with a portfolio of distinct game titles rather than a platform-with-modules architecture. Their games span multiple genres including soccer-like sports games (Mario Strikers series), action-adventure ghost hunting (Luigi's Mansion series), first-person shooters (Metroid Prime: Federation Force), and boxing games (Punch-Out!!). Each title is a standalone product developed for Nintendo platforms, with Mario Strikers: Battle League serving as their most recent major release featuring online multiplayer and club systems. All games are published under Nintendo's intellectual property licensing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Super Mario Strikers A soccer-like sports video game featuring Nintendo characters competing in aggressive, physics-based matches with items and power-ups; published for Nintendo GameCube.
• Mario Strikers Charged A Wii-exclusive sequel to Super Mario Strikers featuring more aggressive gameplay, enhanced character customizations, and online multiplayer modes.
• Punch-Out!! A boxing video game featuring Little Mac as the protagonist, with players defeating opponents in the World Video Boxing Association circuit using timing-based punches and dodging.
• Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon A handheld sequel to Luigi's Mansion where Luigi captures ghosts across multiple haunted mansions using the Dual Scream and Poltergust devices.
• Metroid Prime: Federation Force A first-person shooter game set in the Metroid universe, featuring cooperative multiplayer missions where players control Galactic Federation soldiers.
• Luigi's Mansion 3 A horror-comedy adventure game where players explore a haunted hotel as Luigi, using the Poltergust ghost-sucking device to capture ghosts and solve puzzles across multiple themed floors.
• Mario Strikers: Battle League A 5-on-5 soccer-like sport video game featuring Super Mario series characters with no rules, offering tackling mechanics, Hyper Strikes, and score-boosting gameplay. Supports local multiplayer (8 players on one Nintendo Switch system), online play, and Strikers Clubs with up to 20 players competing for points.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Nintendo Co., Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 December 2025Nintendo Co., Ltd. is the parent company of Next Level Games. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Next Level Games develops games exclusively for Nintendo platforms under Nintendo's publishing and distribution network.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• Level-5: Japanese developer of Professor Layton, Inazuma Eleven, Yo-kai Watch, and prior Nintendo 3DS/DS titles (Fantasy Life). Comparable to NLG as a mid-sized Japanese-allied developer with prior Nintendo platform exclusivity on multi-title franchise work.
• PlatinumGames: Independent Japanese developer of action games including Bayonetta, Astral Chain (Nintendo-published), and NieR: Automata. Comparable to NLG as a premium action-game studio with substantial Nintendo co-development history on Switch-exclusive titles.

Direct peers

• Camelot Software Planning: Japanese developer with deep Nintendo partnership, responsible for Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, and Mario Strikers predecessors. Direct overlap with NLG's Mario Strikers franchise stewardship and shared niche as a long-standing Nintendo-aligned studio.
• Grezzo: Independent developer with close Nintendo ties, responsible for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Majora's Mask 3D, and Ever Oasis. Comparable to NLG as a mid-sized studio with deep Nintendo collaboration history on premium remakes and original titles.
• Monolith Soft: A Nintendo-owned studio (acquired 2007) responsible for Xenoblade Chronicles and contributed to The Legend of Zelda series. Directly comparable to NLG as a wholly-owned Nintendo subsidiary developing premium console RPG/adventure franchises.
• Retro Studios: A wholly-owned Nintendo subsidiary based in Austin, Texas, focused on 3D action franchises such as Metroid Prime, Donkey Kong Country, and now the lead studio on the restarted Metroid Prime 4. Highly comparable to Next Level Games as another Nintendo-owned studio with similar headcount working on AAA franchise titles.
• HAL Laboratory: Long-time Nintendo partner studio behind Kirby and Super Smash Bros., with a Nintendo ownership stake. Comparable to NLG as a subsidiary-or-aligned developer handling flagship Nintendo IP across multiple genres.
• Intelligent Systems: Nintendo-affiliated developer behind Fire Emblem, Paper Mario, and WarioWare. Closely comparable to NLG as a strategic Nintendo partner studio with broad franchise responsibilities across action, RPG, and party genres.
• Nd Cube: Subsidiary of Nintendo primarily developing the Mario Party franchise. Directly comparable to NLG as another Nintendo-aligned studio handling a flagship multiplayer party franchise with strong genre overlap in couch/online multiplayer.

Broad incumbents

• Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD): Nintendo's primary internal development division responsible for Mario, Zelda, Splatoon, Animal Crossing, and most first-party Switch titles. Broad incumbent peer that sets the franchise standards NLG's subsidiary work must meet.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/next-level-games
• Instagraminstagram.com/nextlevelgamesofficial
• Xx.com/nextlevelgames

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Next Level Games