AlphaDream, the developers behind the Mario & Luigi RPG series, have filled for Bankruptcy.

The company originally began as a construction company called Maintenance & Co. in May 1991. Later in January 2000 it became Alpha Star, and shifted towards video game development- later adopting the name Alpha Dream.

The studio had success with the first entries in the Mario & Luigi series (including Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time), along with Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games and Hi! Hamtaro Ham-Ham Challenge.

While the studio recorded an annual revenue of ¥300 million (roughly $2.8 million) in March 2014, they were ¥465 million in debt (roughly $4.3 million) by March 2018. Yahoo! Japan reports that revenues had been sluggish in recent years, and development costs had been heavy.

While this may seem like the end of the Mario & Luigi franchise, Nintendo still hold the rights to the franchise.

Do you have fond memories of their games? Sound off in the comments below!