Nintendo's secret Mario & Luigi: Brothership developer is a bit of a surprise

The developer behind Nintendo's upcoming Mario & Luigi: Brothership has seemingly been revealed - and the identity of the studio behind the upcoming Switch role-playing game is something of a surprise.

Early copies of the game - not officially due to go on sale until 7th November - are now out in the wild, and list Tokyo-based Acquire as having worked on Brothership with Nintendo (thanks, Nintendeal).

Acquire is the veteran developer behind the Tenchu and Way of the Samurai series, though is perhaps better known to Nintendo fans as the team that worked with Square Enix on both Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler 2.

Nintendo previously declined to name the team making Brothership, the long-awaited sixth installment in the Mario & Luigi RPG series, despite fan speculation as to who was behind it.

The series' previous developer AlphaDream sadly closed its doors in 2019, though Nintendo had said some veterans of the series had worked to some extent on this new entry.

Nintendo has recently adopted a policy of not announcing key development details, including the identity of developers and staff, including voice actors, ahead of a game's launch.

It's a decision which has led to increased internet speculation around which company might be behind a particular project, such as the recent The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, even after demos of the game have been playable to press and at public events.

In the case of Brothership, fans had wondered whether Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl studio ILCA was at the reigns, or whether reliable Canadian partner Next Level Games had picked up the series as it has with Luigi's Mansion.

"Mario & Luigi Brothership charms its way through familial familiarity," I wrote in Eurogamer's Mario & Luigi: Brothership preview. "There may be much that's familiar about Brothership's formula, but after such a long absence it's a pleasure to be back in Mario and Luigi's company once more."