Dina Bader: Nintendo is acquiring Next Level Games, developers of Luigi's Mansion 3

Even Nintendo is getting in on the acquisitions.

What you need to know

Next Level Games developed Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Luigi's Mansion 3.
Nintendo has agreed to acquire Next Level Games.
This deal should close on March 1, 2021.

Major acquisitions are the name of the game for the gaming industry right now and Nintendo is making moves so as not to miss out. Today, Nintendo announced that it has agreed to acquire Next Level Games, makers of one of the best Nintendo Switch games available, Luigi's Mansion 3.

Per Nintendo, this acquisition is expected to close on March 1, 2021, pending the participants being okay with the undisclosed terms and regulatory approval under the Investment Canada Act.

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Next Level Games developed different titles like Super Mario Strikers in 2005 and Spider-Man: Friend or Foe in 2007 before eventually working on Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon in 2013 and more recently, Luigi's Mansion 3 in 2019.

Nintendo's first-party developers are organized quite differently from others like Sony and Microsoft, with a bulk of Nintendo's development forces located in the Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development unit, or Nintendo EPD. With that said, Nintendo does own a few other game development studios, including 1-Up Studio, Monolith Soft, NDCube and Retro Studios.

I see dead people

Luigi's Mansion 3

$60 at Amazon $60 at Walmart

Defeat ghosts as you search for your friends

The newest game in the Luigi's Mansion series has you playing once again as the scared plumber. But this time, you'll be exploring a haunted hotel, using new fighting elements, and have the help of a gooey doppelganger. You can even play the main story with two people co-op. This game also includes multiplayer modes where up to 8 players can play together either locally or online.