Mario & Luigi: Brothership's secret developer has been revealed as Octopath Traveler's Acquire

Screenshots from Mario & Luigi: Brothership

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The once-unknown developer behind Mario & Luigi: Brothership has been revealed.

That's according to 'Nintendeal' over on X / Twitter, who shared a screenshot showing the intellectual property information of the game, which was discovered after some players received their physical copy early, ahead of its November 7 launch.

The information provided seems to confirm that the developer of the upcoming Nintendo Switch game is Acquire, the studio behind the critically acclaimed Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler 2.

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It's unclear why Nintendo has kept its co-developer of Brothership under wraps, but the reveal is certainly a surprise to some.

"Well that's a curveball. A good curveball though," said one user on Reddit. "Don't think Acquire was on anybody's radar as a possibility, but they sure know how to make an RPG [role-playing game]."

"A pleasant surprise, they definitely know how to make good RPGs," said another Redditor.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership was announced this summer and is the first new entry in the series in almost nine years. After the series' original developer Alpha Dream went bankrupt in 2019, there have been discussions about who the new developer could be.

Brothership will see the iconic, titular brothers return in an all-new platforming adventure featuring turn-based combat, and both side-scrolling and vertical challenges as they explore a number of islands.

During the game's unveiling, Nintendo executive Shinya Takahashi called the game a "seafaring adventure", which will include "evolved Bros moves" between Mario and Luigi.

TechRadar had the chance to preview Mario & Luigi: Brothership at an event hosted by Nintendo earlier this month. After playing just over an hour of the game, Managing Editor Josephine Watson called it "a glorious return to form for a beloved series", while combat "feels finessed".