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[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Nintendo Subsidiary 'Warpstar Inc.' Has Been Renamed To 'Nintendo Stars Inc.'

Will focus on expanding Nintendo movie adaptations into other mediums

Nintendo has announced that it is renaming its subsidiary company 'Warpstar Inc.' to 'Nintendo Stars Inc.' following its consolidation earlier this year.

Warpstar Inc. – founded on 31st July 2001 – had previously been a joint venture between Nintendo and Hal Laboratory to oversee the Kirby franchise, expanding it into other mediums such as the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! anime series back in 2001. It became an official subsidiary of Nintendo on 1st April 2025.

As for its function going forward, Nintendo Stars will be responsible for "the ancillary-use business tied to films that feature Nintendo Intellectual Property". In simpler words, then, it'll focus on the expansion of movie adaptations into other ventures, such as events, merchandise, licensing – that sort of thing.

We know, of course, that Nintendo has two upcoming movie projects in the works: the 2026 sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and the 2027 live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. The company recently provided our first glimpse at the cast for the Zelda movie, with Bo Bragason playing the role of Zelda, and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth playing the role of Link.

Nintendo Stars will also continue its work in the expansion of the Kirby franchise into other mediums. The subsidiary has literal decades of experience at this point, so Nintendo is keen to utilise its expertise, aiming to "strengthen the relationship between Nintendo and its customers".

Our opinion? 'Nintendo Stars' doesn't have quite the same ring as 'Warpstar', but hey, we'll take it.

Remembering that a few years ago, some ignorant people 90s, mocked and parodied, giving little importance to videogames hobby, who would say that Nintendo and Sega have currently made film productions at the level and Nintendo already has films in development.

 

[AJUMP23]

They better produce games worthy of the name.

 

[ADiTAR]

Nintendo being Nintendo. This is anti-consumer!

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Why is HAL still only partially owned by Nintendo at this point? Nintendo already owns the Kirby IP, so what does HAL get out of being partially independent?

Warpstar being a joint venture gave HAL a bit of influence on Kirby, now they have to go directly to Nintendo with any concerns about the direction of the series. If they were an internal studio, they would have a more influence overall.

 

[Woopah]

Why is HAL still only partially owned by Nintendo at this point? Nintendo already owns the Kirby IP, so what does HAL get out of being partially independent?

Warpstar being a joint venture gave HAL a bit of influence on Kirby, now they have to go directly to Nintendo with any concerns about the direction of the series. If they were an internal studio, they would have a more influence overall.

Warpstar only handled merchandising I believe, they didn't impact thr games themselves.

My understanding is that Kirby ownership is shared between HAL and Nintendo, so the owners of HAL have more control and get a greater share of the profits by staying independent.