Mario Party dev changes name, likely to reflect Nintendo ownership 

Long-standing Nintendo game development studio ND Cube Co. Ltd. announced on September 1 that they will be changing their name to Nintendo Cube.  

Major titles developed by ND Cube include the Nintendo Switch games Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics and Everybody 1-2-Switch! Home to many former Hudson Soft employees, the company has worked on the Mario Party series since Mario Party 9 (Mario Party was originally developed by the now-defunct Hudson Soft).  They are currently working on Super Mario Party Jamboree, which will release on October 17.  

Nintendo and Japanese advertising giant Dentsu set up ND Cube back in 2000, each lending an initial to the company’s name. Initially, Avex and Benesse Corporation were also majority shareholders, but now Nintendo holds 99% of shares in ND Cube, making it a consolidated subsidiary (source: company profile).   

Although the reason for ND Cube’s name change to Nintendo Cube was not given in the official announcement, it seems likely that the D for “Dentsu” has been dropped due to Nintendo’s 99% ownership. We can likely expect to see more Nintendo-exclusive games from Nintendo Cube in the future. 

Written by Verity Townsend based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2024-09-03 10:55 JST)