Nintendo’s Retro Studios will reportedly invest $500k in a HQ expansion
UPDATE: Original source clarifies it’s a remodel
This article was updated at 15:30 and 19:55 GMT, following clarification from the original source.
Nintendo’s Retro Studios is planning to invest some $530,000 into an expansion of its headquarters, as it continues to grow its team for the development of Metroid Prime 4.
The Austin, Texas-based developer plans to invest the figure into building out 40,000 square feet of office space by next summer, according to data published by US sales intelligence firm Intelligence360.
UPDATE: The source of this story has since changed the wording of its original report, clarifying that the investment is for a remodel.
ORIGINAL STORY CONTINUES: Retro has had three headquarters since it was formed in 1998, starting out in the home of its founder Jeff Spangenberg, before moving to its first official office building, where it stayed until its next move in 2011.
For the past 18 months Retro has actively hired for Metroid Prime 4, the project it took on from another, unnamed developer in early 2019, after Nintendo decided to “restart development from the beginning”.
The studio has since hired a roster of triple-A talent, including a GTA producer, Call of Duty veteran, Halo character designer, Warhawk director and DICE artist, and at the time of publishing it’s still advertising 12 jobs for roles including senior level designer.
The American Nintendo studio has slowed its output in the past decade, with just one fully-new title (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze) release since 2010. It’s understood that at least one major project was cancelled in the years prior to it securing the new Metroid.
Around half of the full-time developers who worked on Metroid Prime 3 remain at Retro Studios, according to VGC analysis conducted in August 2019.
It found that a core team of around 50 people worked full-time on the 2007 Wii shooter and around 27 remained at the developer, including four contractors made permanent.
Crucially, five of Metroid Prime 3’s 11 designers were 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 10 of the 40-plus team members remained at Retro and virtually all of the lead creators had moved on.
