Key Retro Studios staff leave company

There are a number of things that leave a gamer inconsolable. One is Sony announcing any PS2 owner wanting to buy it's highly anticipated predecessor will have to fork out $600. Another is Microsoft fanboys realizing that Halo 3 isn't exactly what it's cracked up to be (say what you want chumps, the whole campaign mode screams average). But henceforth is the day when Wii owners across the planet are scorned to a pulp, as Retro Studios loses three members of staff pivotal to the critical acclaim of their critically acclaimed Metroid Prime series. Rumours were rife about the debacle a couple of days ago, but now it has been confirmed that Mark Pacini (lead designer), Jack Matthews (engineer) and Todd Keller (art director) are no longer serving under the orders of Retro.

Just one of the masterpieces created by the art team for Metroid Prime


No other information is available at this time about the reasons for the sudden departure, but it is unlikely that management at the company terminated their contracts early (ie, they probably weren't fired), but it's strange for several influential figures from a developer to leave purely on an coincidental basis, so there is a chance that Pacini, Matthews and Keller are planning to start up their own company.

In the mean time, Retro is NOT SHUTTING DOWN and will continue to develop great, AAA games for Nintendo. Some of the maestros behind the Prime behemoth may have left, but one thing remains the same, and that's that Retro Studios' next title will be one of Wii's most anticipated.