Image : Nintendo

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Founded in 2000, AlphaDream was originally known as Alpha Star and was staffed with people who had formerly been at Square , including former Square P resident Tetsuo Mizuno. The studio is best known for the Mario & Luigi RPG series. It was announced today that AlphaDream has gone bankrupt.




According to Yahoo! Japan, revenue was sluggish in recent years and development costs drove the studio into the red. As of March 2018, AlphaDream was 400 million yen ($3.7 million) in debt.

After releasing Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance in 2003, AlphaDream went on to do four more main entries in the series: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. The studio also worked on the remakes Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions and Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey, the last of which is AlphaDream’s final game.


The Mario & Luigi RPG series was praised among fans—and for good reason. It’s a shame that the studio has filed for bankruptcy.

Clarification: 10/2/2019, 6:45 a.m. ET: This article has been edited for clarity.

