{"id":86308,"date":"2026-09-20T00:19:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T16:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=86308"},"modified":"2026-09-20T00:19:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T16:19:00","slug":"the-frustrating-mystery-of-who-makes-nintendo-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=86308","title":{"rendered":"The Frustrating Mystery Of Who Makes Nintendo Games"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Whenever a Nintendo game gets a splashy reveal in a Direct, my immediate hype takes on a few forms. I\u2019ll replay the trailer at least once, then I\u2019ll start going frame by frame. I scour Nintendo\u2019s websites for concrete information, then I read up on Reddit comments and theories to see what other people noticed that I might have missed. And then, I watch the trailer yet again. But almost every single time, my brain lands on the same question: Who the hell made this thing?<\/p>\n

The most recent catalyst for this vicious hype cycle was Metroid Ravenous, a game that looks remarkably like 2021\u2019s Metroid Dread. That game was made in collaboration with Spanish studio MercurySteam, but I saw no mention of that company anywhere in Nintendo\u2019s promotional materials immediately after the reveal. Being the inquisitive and nosy neurodivergent person that I am, my mind subsequently went down a rabbit hole, contemplating why Nintendo is so averse to talking about this.<\/p>\n

Nintendo\u2019s devoted fanbase is many things, but one constant is that fans will never stop being curious. They are always seeking out specifics, no matter how trivial the subject, from the nuances of the Zelda timeline to whatever Mario\u2019s current occupation is. With Nintendo often being a secretive company, the lack of information it provides only intensifies fans\u2019 thirst for knowledge. And for whatever reason, Nintendo is particularly tight-lipped–arguably now more than ever–about which specific studios are behind its titles.<\/p>\n

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After a cryptic post from MercurySteam, we probably<\/em> know who’s making the new Metroid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This has long been the case for Nintendo, but discussions over who is making what in Nintendo\u2019s portfolio have increased over time. In the lead-up to the release of Princess Peach: Showtime in 2024, talk amongst enthusiasts about the game was dominated by speculation on who was developing it, rather than the content of the game itself. Nintendo was oddly evasive about the subject, saying that players needed to look at the game\u2019s credits to find that out. (It turns out, as datamines indicated, it was frequent Nintendo partner Good-Feel.) The same happened months prior, when it took some sleuthing to figure out who made the Super Mario RPG remake (ArtePiazza, in that case).<\/p>\n

While this is purely speculative, I can take a guess as to why Nintendo takes this approach. When Nintendo reveals a new game, the company wants you to see it as a Nintendo game<\/strong>\u2013not an Intelligent Systems title, or a Grezzo production, or a HAL Laboratory original. By framing it as such, Nintendo is presumably hoping that you do away with preconceptions relating to the developers\u2019 previous games and make a judgment on the game once you actually play the final product.<\/p>\n

That practice has the potential to save some consumers from certain pitfalls; for instance, it could avoid pre-release discourse centering on the studio\u2019s track record instead of the game itself. That type of dialogue could lead to people unfairly evaluating a game before it\u2019s even out. I know I would be mortified if someone prematurely judged Next Level Games\u2019 titles solely based on its work on the ill-fated Metroid Prime: Federation Force.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a way for Nintendo to strengthen its brand. Being a Nintendo-published game comes with some level of shine and prestige, no matter who made it. When a Nintendo game succeeds, no matter if it was a partner studio or one of the company\u2019s in-house and generically named EPD studios, you can owe it to Nintendo\u2019s special touch. And when one fails, then Nintendo can own the mistake instead of the studio.<\/p>\n

But as the years have passed, Nintendo appears to be deemphasizing its subsidiary studios and its development partners, and there\u2019s a magic that\u2019s lost as a result.<\/p>\n

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When you know Next Level Games is behind a new title, you can expect excellence in character animation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a sense of joy I got from some of Nintendo\u2019s GameCube-era titles, which featured the developers behind those games loudly and at the very start. Whether it was Waluigi yelling \u201cCAMELOT!\u201d in Mario Power Tennis or Daisy screeching \u201cNEXT LEVEL GAMES!\u201d before Super Mario Strikers, the pride and passion from these studios was palpable.<\/p>\n

I always enjoyed how the original three Metroid Prime games opened with \u201cNintendo and Retro Studios present\u201d before the title screen, highlighting how essential the talent from Retro was to these games. Fast forward to Metroid Prime 4 in 2025, which shortens that vanity card to \u201cNintendo Presents,\u201d as if it\u2019s ashamed to acknowledge its Austin-based affiliate studio. I can\u2019t even find the Retro Studios logo on the back of the box. At most, you\u2019ll see studio names like Intelligent Systems or Monolith Soft in the copyright notice at the bottom of the title screen.<\/p>\n

And while you don\u2019t want potential customers to be stuck with preconceptions based on who\u2019s making a game, more information is always better for making informed decisions. I want to know if Good-Feel is making a new Yoshi game, because that studio excels in crafting unique art styles. I want to know if Next Level is making a new Luigi\u2019s Mansion, because the folks there are particularly great at making expressive character animations. I want to know if MercurySteam is behind a new Metroid (which appears to be the case for Ravenous), because while that studio makes a damn good Metroid, it also caught flak for not crediting certain developers, received accusations of crunch and intimidation, and recently underwent layoffs.<\/p>\n

Nintendo is always going to do things its way\u2013it wouldn\u2019t be Nintendo if it weren\u2019t. But the least it can do is give its fans a better idea of what they\u2019re getting.<\/p>\n


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