Half of the core Metroid Prime 3 team is still at Retro Studios

Around half of the full-time developers who worked on Metroid Prime 3 remain at Retro Studios, VGC analysis suggests.

A core team of around 50 people worked full-time on the 2007 Wii shooter and around 27 remain at the Texas-based developer, including four contractors made permanent, according to LinkedIn.

Crucially, five of Metroid Prime 3’s 11 designers are still at Retro and potentially working on the upcoming Metroid Prime 4.

However, from the original Metroid Prime – which released almost two decades ago – less than ten of the 40-plus team members remain at Retro and virtually all of the lead creators have moved on.

Mark Pacini, who was lead designer for all three Metroid Prime games, left to found Recore studio Armature in 2008, along with the series’ lead artist Todd Keller. Five other former Metroid Prime developers also joined Armature.

A further seven Metroid Prime creators departed for nearby Bluepoint Studios, the company known for its HD remasters of Shadow of the Colossus, Uncharted and more.

Nintendo announced earlier this year that it had decided to “restart development from the beginning” for Metroid Prime 4, with producer Kensuke Tanabe calling in Retro to take over the project from its original, unannounced developer.

Retro has been hiring for Metroid Prime 4 ever since and its jobs page is still advertising for an art director, director of development and more.

Metroid Prime team (core)

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes team (core)

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption team (core)