Retro Studios Inc.

Moby ID: 3261

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Retro Studios was founded in 1998 by Jeff Spangenberg. Initially, their games were not very successful. This led to many lay offs and many canceled projects.

Eventually Nintendo took interest in the company, and Retro Studios became a second party developer to Nintendo. Nintendo offered Retro Studios a chance to work on the Metroid series of games in 2000, which had not been worked on since 1994. This turned the company around, and their first Metroid game, Metroid Prime, was a success. Not too long after this success, Jeff Spangenberg left the company, and sold his share of the company to Nintendo, making Retro Studios a first party developer to Nintendo.

Credited on 11 Games from 2002 to 2023

Metroid Prime: Remastered (2023 on Nintendo Switch)
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014 on Wii U, Nintendo Switch)
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (2013 on Nintendo 3DS)
Mario Kart 7 (2011 on Nintendo 3DS)
Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010 on Wii, Wii U)
Metroid Prime Trilogy (2009 on Wii, Wii U)
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007 on Wii)
Metroid Prime: Hunters (2006 on Nintendo DS, Wii U)
Metroid Prime Pinball (2005 on Nintendo DS)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004 on GameCube, Wii)
Metroid Prime (2002 on GameCube, Wii)

History +

May 2, 2002

Retro Studios becomes a fully owned subsidiary of Nintendo. Nintendo buys the remaining shares of company from former owner Jeff Spangenberg, making Retro a First Party addition.

1998

Company founded.

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