Retro Studios

Retro Studios is an Austin-based video game developer and a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Established in 1998, the studio was created to develop games for Nintendo hardware and became a key first-party developer during the Nintendo GameCube era.

The studio is best known for bringing Nintendo's Metroid series into three dimensions with Metroid Prime. Released in 2002, the game combined first-person exploration, action, scanning-based environmental storytelling, and an interconnected science-fiction world. Retro subsequently developed Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and Metroid Prime: Trilogy.

Major Nintendo franchises

Retro later extended its work to the Donkey Kong Country series, developing Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. It also contributed to Mario Kart 7 and developed Metroid Prime Remastered.

The studio is leading development of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, continuing its long-running association with the franchise.

Development focus

Retro Studios operates as a console game-development team focused on polished, large-scale Nintendo projects. Its work encompasses gameplay systems, level and world design, character and environment art, animation, visual effects, audio implementation, and technical development for Nintendo platforms.

Its released games are associated with atmospheric environments, detailed interactive spaces, first-person action-adventure design, and character-driven platforming. Through its work on Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country, the studio has contributed to several of Nintendo's most recognizable modern game series.