Metroid developers merge with EA, interested in PS3 and Xbox 360 development.

Retro Studios are best known for their work on the Metroid Prime trilogy for the Nintendo systems. Nintendo gave them the job of creating the three titles for the Gamecube and Wii, and they all turned out very well. But the three main men behind the title; Mark Pacini, Todd Keller and Jack Mathews, Metroid Prime's Game Director, Art Director and Principal Technology Engineer have announced they are leaving Retro Studios to create their own development studio entitled Armature Studio.

This new developer will develop for all three of the current generation consoles under a new publishing deal with Electronic Arts.

Quote:

"EA approached us with this really interesting business model of creating a small studio that is only comprised of industry veterans. The goal is to create new IP with a very, very small team and to produce a game without having to grow that team."

Pacini stated in the interview that he has never developed for a non-Nintendo console, and is excited that now he can bring his work to the other systems.

Quote:

"From my stand point, I've never worked on any other console, "I've always made games for Nintendo. I'm reinvigorated. I'm really excited about what other opportunities are out there. How can we use Xbox Live? How can we use the power of the PS3? I think it really opens it up. I'm not saying it was by any means restrictive working for Nintendo. We had this palette to work on, the Wii and the DS, but now we have everything. That's just really, really exciting."

However, the bad news is that due to the contract with EA, they will not be able to develop a new Metroid title in the future for the Wii. However, the developers would still love to make one if the possibility ever arose.

Quote:

"Personally, I would love to work on another Metroid game, I have been in love with Metroid for years. We had a chance to recreate a game that was created way back when. That was awesome."

So it seems that a Metroid 4 is as of this point not in the pipeline. Whether Nintendo hand the series to someone else or take developing it into their own hands remains to be seen.

Source (and the full interview): Armature Studio: Metroid Prime Devs Eye 360, PS3 for Future Games