In January 2019, Nintendo announced that development of the highly-anticipated Metroid Prime 4 had been restarted at the legendary Retro Studios. While little is currently known about the progress that has been made on this forthcoming title, Retro has recently seen one if its veterans return to the studio, and the prospect that this designer may be working on the new Metroid Prime is something that is sure to excite many fans.
Specifically, it is reported that Stephen Dupree is now set to fill the role of principle game designer at Retro Studios after having been away from the company for two years. During this hiatus, Dupree worked on the 3D platformer New Super Lucky's Tale at Texas-based Playful Studios, and fans that are not aware of this indie title may be quite familiar with the work that he did at Retro prior to his departure.
This work began with Dupree serving as a contract designer on Retro's critically-acclaimed Donkey Kong Country Returns from 2010. He would then go on to act as a designer on the Nintendo 3DS's Mario Kart 7, and eventually Dupree would assume the role of lead designer on 2014's Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Indeed, many players consider Tropical Freeze to be among the best platformers, making the news that Dupree will once again be working with Retro of particular interest.
Dupree is not the only exciting recent hire at Retro, though, as the developer also added a veteran character artist to its team in October. That artist is Kyle Hefley, who spent nine years at 343 Industries working on character models for Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, and Halo Infinite, and he is now acting as Retro Studios' lead character artist,
To note, there is currently no official confirmation that Dupree will be contributing directly to Metroid Prime 4, and perhaps he will instead be working on another Retro Studios project. That said, the developer has not specifically indicated what, if anything, it is working on alongside the new Metroid, and it is thus not unreasonable to expect that the majority of Retro Studios' efforts, including what Dupree is contributing, are focused on the Switch exclusive.
Source: VGC