Nintendo announced it will acquire Canadian game developer Next Level Games for an undisclosed amount, according to a recent post on its Investor Relations page.
NLG, founded in 2002, has developed games for PS2, PS3, Xbox, and Xbox 360, as well as for Nintendo consoles since GameCube. Since January 2014, NGL has been developing titles exclusively for Nintendo.
Among the titles NLG developed for Nintendo: Punch-Out!! (Wii), Doc Louis’s Punch-Out!! (Wii), Super Mario Strikers (GameCube), Mario Strikers Charged (Wii), Metroid Prime: Federation Force (3DS), Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS), and Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Switch).
The reason for the sale of NLG: “A number of owner-directors recently determined that the time is right to sell their shares.”
The deal is expected to be completed on March 1, 2021.
“Completion of the Acquisition will serve to secure the availability of NLG development resources or Nintendo, including development expertise, as well as facilitate an anticipated improvement in development speed and quality by enabling closer communication and exchange of staff with the Nintendo development team.”
[Source]: Nintendo: Notification of the Acquisition of the Canadian Software Developer, Next Level Games Inc. – [Archive].