1-Up Studio facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
1-Up Studio Inc.

Logo since 2013
Headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo
Native name	1-UPスタジオ株式会社
Romanized name	1-Up Sutajio Kabushiki gaisha
Formerly	Brownie Brown Inc. (2000–2013)
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	June 30, 2000; 25 years ago (2000-06-30) in Tokyo, Japan
Founder	Shinichi Kameoka Kouji Tsuda
Headquarters	Kanda Square, 2-2-1 Kandanishiki-cho, Chiyoda, Tokyo , Japan
Key people	Gen Kadoi (President)
Number of employees	95 (2025)
Parent	Nintendo

1-Up Studio Inc. (also known as "1-UP STUDIO") is a Japanese company that makes video games. It is located in Tokyo, Japan. The company started on June 30, 2000, and was first called Brownie Brown Inc., .

It was founded by Shinichi Kameoka and Kouji Tsuda. They used to work at a company called Square. They helped create games in the Mana series. Brownie Brown made games for both Nintendo and Square Enix. Some of their early games were Magical Vacation and Sword of Mana.

On February 1, 2013, the company changed its name to 1-Up Studio. This happened because they started working very closely with Nintendo. After the change, Shinichi Kameoka left to start a new game studio called Brownies.

Since the 2010s, 1-Up Studio has mostly helped Nintendo make games. Their team includes artists, game designers, and programmers.

How 1-Up Studio Started

Logo when the company was called Brownie Brown

1-Up Studio began on June 30, 2000, as Brownie Brown. Many of its first employees were 2D artists from Square. The founders, Shinichi Kameoka and Kouji Tsuda, had worked on the Mana game series. These games were for the Game Boy and Super NES. They left Square because they had different ideas about making games.

The name Brownie Brown came from the Brownies. These are friendly, hardworking fairies from Scottish stories. Kameoka felt this name fit his team well. A Brownie fairy was even part of the studio's first logo. He wanted to make games for the Game Boy Advance, which led to the creation of Brownie Brown.

Early Games by Brownie Brown

The first game Brownie Brown made on its own was Magical Vacation. It came out in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance but was only released in Japan. Another well-known game they developed was Sword of Mana. This game was made for and published by Square Enix. Many thought it was a new game in the Seiken Densetsu series. However, it was actually an improved version of the very first game in that series.

Brownie Brown also helped make Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance. They worked with Shigesato Itoi and HAL Laboratory on this game. They also developed Magical Starsign for the Nintendo DS. This game was known as Magical Vacation: When the Five Stars Align in Japan.

Even though they mostly made games for handheld consoles, Brownie Brown had planned a game for the GameCube. It was called Gofuku and was supposed to come out in 2005.

Later Projects and Name Change

The company later released Blue Dragon Plus for the Nintendo DS. They worked with another company called Mistwalker on this game. In 2009, they started making games for download. Their first downloadable game was A Kappa's Trail for DSiWare.

Brownie Brown also worked on Livly Garden for the DS. This game was based on a browser game. It was released in Japan on January 28, 2010. They also helped Level-5 with two games. These were Professor Layton's London Life and Fantasy Life.

On February 1, 2013, Brownie Brown announced a big change. Because they were working so closely with Nintendo, they changed their company structure. They officially changed their name to 1-Up Studio. They also became a support studio for Nintendo. After these changes, Shinichi Kameoka left 1-Up Studio. He wanted to start his own company, Brownies, to make original games. In the same year, Yoshiaki Koizumi joined the company's board of directors.

In 2020, 1-Up Studio moved its main office. It moved to the new Nintendo Tokyo Office building in Kanda Square, Tokyo. Other game companies like Nintendo EPD Tokyo and Game Freak are also in this building.

Games Developed or Co-Developed

As Brownie Brown

As 1-Up Studio

See also

In Spanish: 1-Up Studio para niños