1-Up Studio Inc. (known as "1-UP STUDIO") was previously called Brownie Brown Inc. It is a Japanese video game company located in Tokyo. The company was started on June 30, 2000, by Shinichi Kameoka and Kouji Tsuda, who were former employees of Square. They worked on games in the Mana series. The studio created games for Nintendo and Square Enix, including Magical Vacation and Sword of Mana.
On February 1, 2013, the company announced that it was changing its internal organization because of its recent work with Nintendo. This change led to the company adopting its current name. At the same time, Kameoka left to start a new company called Brownies.
Since the 2010s, the company has mostly worked as a support team for Nintendo EPD. Its employees include artists, game designers, and programmers.
History
1-Up was founded on June 30, 2000, as Brownie Brown. The company had many 2D artists who used to work at Square. The founders, Shinichi Kameoka and Kouji Tsuda, had previously worked on the Mana series for the Game Boy and Super NES. They left Square because of different ideas. The studio’s name came from Brownies, which are fairies from Scottish folklore known for being hardworking and friendly. Kameoka believed this name fit the team’s style. A Brownie is shown in the studio’s logo. Kameoka wanted to create games for the Game Boy Advance, which led to the creation of Brownie Brown.
The company’s first original game was Magical Vacation, released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance in Japan only. Another popular game made by Brownie Brown was Sword of Mana, created and published by Square Enix. This game was thought to be a new title in the Seiken Densetsu series, but it was actually an improved version of the first game in the series, Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (called Mystic Quest in Europe and Final Fantasy Adventure in North America).
Brownie Brown also helped develop Mother 3 in a partnership with Shigesato Itoi and HAL Laboratory for the Game Boy Advance. They also created Magical Starsign (Magical Vacation: When the Five Stars Align in Japan) for the Nintendo DS. The company said they would consider making a Nintendo DS version of Mother 3 if Nintendo asked them to.
At the time, the company only made games for Nintendo’s handheld consoles. However, they had previously announced a GameCube game called Gofuku, planned for release in 2005 alongside Magical Starsign.
Later, the company released Blue Dragon Plus for the Nintendo DS, developed with Mistwalker. In 2009, they entered the downloadable games market with A Kappa’s Trail, a DSiWare game. Brownie Brown also worked on Livly Garden, a DS game based on a browser game from So-net Entertainment, released in Japan on January 28, 2010. They also helped develop two Level-5 games: Professor Layton’s London Life, a bonus game included with Professor Layton and the Last Specter, and Fantasy Life for the DS and 3DS.
On February 1, 2013, the company announced on its official website that it had changed its internal structure. It officially became 1-Up Studio and became a support studio for Nintendo. Kameoka left 1-Up Studio to start a new company called Brownies, aiming to make original games. That same year, Yoshiaki Koizumi joined the company’s board of directors.
In 2020, the company moved its headquarters to the new Nintendo Tokyo Office building at Kanda Square, Tokyo. The building also houses Nintendo EPD Tokyo, Nintendo PTD Tokyo, HAL Laboratory Head Office, Tokyo R&D Center, and Game Freak.