Retro Studios has hired another pair of talented designers as it continues to work on Nintendo's Metroid Prime 4, according to a new report.
VGC says that Mark Capers, previously of New Super Lucky's Tale developer Playful, and James Beech, a designer who has worked on games like Crysis 3 and DC Universe Online, have both joined the company. The news follows a string of new hires for Retro which includes Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze lead designer, Stephen Dupree, and Halo series character modeller, Kyle Hefley.
The report notes that both Capers and Beech are set to work as environment designers in their new roles at the company; Retro's jobs page is also still advertising for a lead animator, senior designer, and many more.
At present, it's unclear whether or not Retro Studios is working on any other projects besides the new Metroid Prime release. It wasn't all that long ago that rumours surrounding a Retro-made Star Fox Grand Prix game were spreading like wildfire, with many believing them to be true, but we haven't seen anything official to confirm that such a game exists.
Feeling hyped for Metroid Prime 4? Does it still feel too far away to get excited just yet? Share your thoughts with us below.
Thanks to Greatsong for the tip!
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments (42)
I'm glad this is happening. Hire all the expertise you can get and blow us away Retro!
Still curious about what they might have been working on before this bloated vaporware corpse landed on them.
The Metroid Prime games have taken a while to get their hooks into me despite buying them at launch. Only recently finished the original on Gamecube! I've recently been playing the rather weird sequel too. I'm stuck on a MP3 boss, ?Mogenar so probably I should give that a go again. Hopefully I probably have enough time to do them justice before MP4.
@Savino your comment makes me sad
Let it be this gen, Nintendo! And make it sell well, Metroid needs all the hype it can get to finally become a big seller.
Metroid Prime 4 rumour- undisclosed sources saw something move while spying though Retro studios office window. Was it someone designing new power-ups for Samus, or maybe nothing worth speculating about?
@Friendly Considering they're still hiring designers, I wouldn't be surprised to get MP4 at the end of the Switch's life cycle.
Lucky's Tale was very good, so I think this is good news.
Star Fox x F-Zero would be kind of cool if there was a possibility of a crossover type game
This is shaping up to be really interesting. Personally I’d rather they made it for a more powerful console than Switch, though.
Bundled with a Switch Pro? Yes please.
The more the merrier.
Not sure why people think adding designers of completely different games constitutes as a good thing, but I hope it works out.
Never a good sign when you’re still recruiting during a job. The team should’ve been assembled from day one. Like one of those movies with multiple directors and reshoots!
@Pod you do realize that the Metroid project “landing” on them is good for retro studios right?
@Rodan2000 It is completely normal to hire additional work force in any stage of a development project. Actually its more of a good sign than a bad one...
@Crockin True, but still, what were they doing for all of these years? It's very curious.
Perhaps the Lucky's tale Dev was not hired to work on mp4. It seems to make more sense that, given his background, he would be brought in to work on something more akin to dktf. Hoping retro has more than one project in the works. Maybe a new dk or something similar.
squinting Fry face
Trying to work out if former Crysis 3 designer being brought on board will help result in one of the prettiest Switch games ever... or have no bearing at all...
@Orpheus79V Nintendo basically owns retro, so that means they are developing ideas and pitching them to Nintendo, and most likely helping with other projects. I don’t think that a long stretch of no news necessarily means they were working on some masterpiece. If they were developing something prior to Metroid, my bet would be on a donkey Kong game
I think Retro is working on multiple titles.
@Crockin
Is it?
Making a fourth game in a series they weren't expecting to work on in the first place when forming Retro? Having written the story into a corner, and having parted ways with many of the key people from the original design team?
And THEN trying to match the absurd expectations from both fans and Nintendo?
I'd be sweating bullets trying to pull this off, and I'd be sick and tired of the series, quite frankly. I know a lot of people left because they didn't want to make Donkey Kong, but some amount of variety has to be on the table. Even as a player, I wasn't hoping for a fourth Prime game.
But now that it -IS- coming, here's hoping for a new story continuity, some new ground broken in building a solid action adventure, and maybe even an impressive new artstyle.
@Pod Retro would not be on board if they and Nintendo weren’t confident they could handle the project. They are not tortured geniuses being inconvenienced, they are professional game developers and working on a franchise like Metroid is a major success. They want to make it and make it good or we wouldn’t even know they were involved. Story will be 0 issue.
Whatever it's for, we know they're picking up talent. Which means that they're pulling out all the stops for their projects.
@Tyranexx I’m sensing good energy and a lot of juice behind this. I did not feel that way when it was at Bandai or wherever it was
@Danito I’ll be convinced when we see something!
I've made peace with the fact we probably won't be getting Metroid Prime 4 until 2022.
Also, Retro Studios doesn't have another game in development that will release beforehand.
They probably spent the time between DKC: Tropical Freeze and MP4 consulting on development of other Nintendo games, doing the Switch port of TF, and working on pitches that were rejected by Nintendo.
And maybe (a big MAYBE) developing the fabled Metroid Prime HD Trilogy that Nintendo could be holding in their pocket, waiting for the right time to release.
I just hope the rumored new 2D Metroid from Mercury Steam and Nintendo is a real thing and will release over the next year.
@Crockin Same here. I suspect it'll be at least a couple of years (if not longer) before Metroid Prime 4 shows up, but I'm content to wait. I want a well-crafted product that wasn't rushed and does the rest of the Prime series justice.
Sounds like a Switch 2 game or maybe it will get the BOTW treatment and get put on two consoles when it releases. This sounds like it's going to be a long ways off if they're just now hiring people.
So a cute anthropomorphic squirrel and a man in a dangerous exo-suit walk into a bar...
@Rodan2000 can’t argue with that! 🙂
@Crockin
Retro is wholly owned by Nintendo, and they have absolutely no say in whether they need to make one game or the other. But yeah, they're likely confident they can do it, even if I wouldn't be. Your optimism is noted and appreciated.
With this much talent on board, Metroid 4 will be amazing for sure. But will it be on switch?
I'm really looking forward to MP4 and hopefully another new game. Hope we get more news soon.
@Axelay71
Yes, the Switch's lifespan will extend until at least 2023; possibly longer, depending on the specs of the inevitable "Pro" model revision.
Metroid Prime 4 isn't ever going to come out is it?
@Impaler-D
Hopefully the switch goes on and on, and hopefully Metroid will run on the vanilla tech. And not just pro revisions , time will tell.
I really hope it's out this gen, as that's why I bought a switch. I mean there's still another 3or 4 years of switch I think !
i have faith in Retro Studios, the recent hies they are doing shown that Metroid Prime 4 is in good hand, they can take all the time they need to deliver the best Metroid Prime and Metroid game ever in the Nintendo Switch.
@Ninfan Nintendo said several times they plan the Nintendo Switch to have a longer lifecycle compared to his previous consoles, so we can expect a 7 to 8 year lifecycle for the Nintendo Switch.
@Rodan2000 Well you do know or don't know that Nintendo's first Metroid project was not For Retro Studios until they scrapped the Idea then they gave it to retro studios so Day One Retro Studios didn't even know they were on the project of Metroid prime 4, so they couldn't of had all the people they needed recruited.
@Giancarlothomaz All the Metroid Prime Games have been good I mainly played the Second in the series but all of them don't leave anyone hanging, so Giving it back to Retro Studios I think they could make it way better than the previous three.
@Audiogore0733 yes i know this played and did 100% all Metroid Prime games in my Metroid Prime Trilogy.
@Giancarlothomaz you say another 7 years of switch, I wonder how many games will be on it then, about 14000 I'd say
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