Analysis: Who’s working on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond?

With the recent announcement that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is due for release next year, it’s worth taking a closer look at the team working on it.

Nintendo announced back in 2019 that it had decided to “restart development from the beginning” for Metroid Prime 4, with producer Kensuke Tanabe calling in Retro Studios to take over the project from its original developer.

Although Nintendo and Retro Studios have remained tight-lipped on the game’s development to date, VGC analysis gives some idea of the staff who have been contributing to the game’s development.

Since this analysis deals with public-facing information, there are some caveats. The nature of non-disclosure agreements means it’s currently unclear if Metroid Prime 4 is the only game Retro Studios is currently working on, so there’s always the possibility that some of the staff listed below are working on something top secret.

Some of the staff listed may also have left Retro Studios since they last updated their employment history. However, everyone listed was at least listed as working at Retro within the past couple of years, meaning they will almost certainly have contributed to the development of Metroid Prime 4. This list also doesn’t include staff from other Nintendo departments likely to be contributing to the game.

Some notable previous appointments were already reported on VGC. Back when it was announced that the game’s development was restarting and moving to Retro Studios, VGC analysis found that around half of the full-time developers who worked on Metroid Prime 3 were still at Retro at the time.

Later that year, Retro appointed veteran Halo creative Kyle Hefley as the studio’s new lead character artist.

Hefley is a vastly experienced character modeller who has worked on more than 20 titles, including Call of Duty: Black Ops and Sleeping Dogs. Most relevant for Hefley’s role at Retro, however, was his nine years at Microsoft’s 343 Industries.

Hefley acted as senior character modeller for the Halo