HAL Laboratory has revealed that it is hiring new employees to make new Kirby games.
As shared on Reddit by user DrAwesomeX, HAL’s Twitter account announced that they had openings in the company, for the purpose of making new games in the franchise.
A Google Translate of the tweet shared this message, which is straightforward enough to be understood in English:
“Looking for Kirby development staff!
3 weeks left until the deadline!
Would you like to create the “Kirby of the Stars” series with us?
We are looking for entries from enthusiastic and experienced game developers!
Deadline: February 13, 2024 14:00
Click here for details
https://www.hallab.co.jp/lp/r_prj/202311/“
While we cannot translate the official website itself, it’s clear by looking at it that HAL has multiple openings.
Kirby, known in Japan as Hoshi no Kirby or Kirby of the Stars, is one of the oldest and most successful Japanese video game franchises of all time. The franchise started in 1992 with Kirby’s Dream Land on the Game Boy. The latest release in the series is Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe from last year, a remake of the 2011 Wii title of the same name.
While HAL and Nintendo have worked very closely through the years, since the latter saved them from bankruptcy in the 1980s, HAL very much remains incorporated as its own company. In August 2001, the two companies founded a joint venture called WarpStar, Inc. Both own half of WarpStar, and the subsidiary exists to manage the Kirby franchise, in the same way that Nintendo is co-owner of The Pokemon Company, alongside Creatures and Game Freak, to manage the Pokemon franchise.
All of this is notable to point out that these Kirby games are definitely for Nintendo’s platforms. In fact, if HAL needs to expand to make Kirby games, that must be because they are making these new games for Nintendo’s next platform. If we consider that it takes sometime between three to five years for any major games to be made in general, these hires will be making games we won’t be seeing until the future.
It should also be noted that the Kirby franchise is one of the most prolific of any video game franchise, rivaling even EA’s annualized sports games. A new title has released nearly every year since the first 1992 release. The company has only missed this schedule in six out of 31 years, a staggering achievement in itself.
So, in spite of this hiring spree, whenever the next Nintendo platform gets announced and released, it’s almost certain that there will be a Kirby game to arrive on that year. Unfortunately, those games may not be launch titles for the platform, but since this new platform is expected to have backwards compatibility, they’re likely to be playable there as well.
In any case, this activity is definitely another sign that a new Nintendo platform is on the horizon.
