Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s ending credits reveal that Retro Studios enlisted at least 21 separate support studios and contractors to complete the game after Nintendo restarted development in 2019. The extensive list includes Next Level Games (Luigi’s Mansion 3, Federation Force), Virtuos (multiple AAA port and remaster work), Territory Studio (screen graphics specialists), and numerous art outsourcing houses like GameSim, Smoking Gun Interactive, Forge Studios, Original Force, and Room 8 Studio. Reddit commenters suggest this makes Prime 4 potentially Nintendo’s most expensive project to date, with one noting “21 Studios? This might just be Nintendo’s priciest endeavor to date.” The support studios handled tasks ranging from environmental art and character animation to quality assurance and technical systems, allowing Retro’s core team to focus on direction, design, and implementation. This extensive collaboration differs from typical Nintendo projects where support studios handle minor assets or QA – Prime 4’s partners were deeply integrated into co-development roles reflecting the game’s massive scope and ambition after the 2019 development restart.
The Full List of Support Studios
Based on Nintendo Life’s reporting and Reddit discussions examining the credits, here are the studios credited with assisting Retro Studios on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond:
– Next Level Games (Nintendo subsidiary, Vancouver)
– Virtuos (Singapore/global art outsourcing)
– Territory Studio (UI/screen graphics specialists)
– Waterproof Studios
– Keywords Studios (QA and localization giant)
– Liquid Development
– Volta
– AMC Studio
– GameSim (vehicle and simulation specialists)
– Smoking Gun Interactive
– Forge Studios
– Red Hot CG
– Original Force (Chinese art outsourcing)
– Devoted Studios
– Room 8 Studio (Ukrainian/Polish art house)
– Next Gen Dreams
– Plus additional contractors and individual freelancers
This list doesn’t include the standard Nintendo ecosystem partners that appear on virtually every Nintendo game – audio engineering firms, voice-over agencies, talent representation, localization houses handling translation, and first-party QA teams. Those are expected overhead. The interesting part is the sheer number of co-development partners doing substantive work on art, animation, level design, and systems implementation.
Next Level Games’ Role
The inclusion of Next Level Games is particularly notable because they’re a wholly-owned Nintendo subsidiary that typically leads their own projects (Luigi’s Mansion series, Punch-Out!!) rather than providing support work. The specific individuals credited were Matt McTavish, Cavin Yen, Mark Blanchin, and Christopher Rice – not entire teams, suggesting targeted expertise rather than broad co-development.
Next Level Games has Metroid Prime history, having developed Metroid Prime: Federation Force for 3DS in 2016. That game was critically panned and commercially unsuccessful, but it gave the studio familiarity with Prime universe assets, design language, and Nintendo’s expectations for Metroid projects. One Reddit commenter speculated: “That’s intriguing! It’s not often that we see Next Level Games collaborating on titles they aren’t directly developing. This makes me wonder if they are becoming more integrated into Nintendo’s internal operations.”
Another commenter provided context: “Kensuke Tanabe has strong connections with both Retro Studios and Next Level Games. Since both are based in North America, it likely facilitated a smoother collaboration for support efforts.” Tanabe is the longtime Metroid Prime producer who oversaw all four Prime games, so his ability to coordinate between Nintendo’s North American studios was crucial when Prime 4’s scope expanded beyond Retro’s capacity.
Virtuos and the Art Outsourcing Houses
Virtuos is one of the world’s largest art outsourcing firms, providing high-quality assets, ports, and remasters for AAA publishers. Their involvement suggests Retro needed substantial environmental art, character modeling, texture work, and technical art beyond what their internal team could produce in reasonable timeframes. Virtuos has worked on hundreds of major releases including The Last of Us Part I Remake, Dark Souls Remastered, and ports of countless PC/console games.
Similarly, studios like Original Force (Chinese), Room 8 Studio (Ukrainian/Polish), Red Hot CG, and Forge Studios are known for high-end art production work contracted by Western AAA studios. These companies employ hundreds of specialized artists who create 3D models, animations, textures, and VFX sequences to exact specifications provided by the lead developer. The economics make sense – hiring contractors for asset production is often more cost-effective than expanding permanent staff, especially for finite projects like Prime 4 where post-launch support needs will be minimal.
One Reddit commenter explained the distinction: “Simply naming them isn’t very meaningful without context. When comparing Prime 4 to other Nintendo games, it’s evident that Prime’s support studios play a significantly more involved part in the development process. In contrast, most other games’ studios are engaged in smaller tasks that are usually outsourced, such as voiceover work and quality assurance.” This suggests Prime 4’s partners weren’t just filling in gaps – they were co-developing substantial portions of the game.
Specialized Contractors – Territory Studio
Territory Studio deserves special mention as the UI and screen graphics specialists behind some of cinema and gaming’s most iconic interfaces. They created the holographic displays in Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and countless sci-fi films. In games, they’ve worked on titles requiring futuristic HUD elements and diegetic interfaces (in-universe screens that characters interact with).
Metroid Prime has always emphasized immersive first-person UI through Samus’s visor displays, holographic projections, scanning interfaces, and environmental terminals. Territory Studio’s involvement suggests Prime 4’s UI reached a level of complexity and cinematic polish that required specialist expertise beyond Retro’s in-house capabilities. The result is visible in reviews praising Prime 4’s gorgeous visor effects, HDR implementation, and screen-space environmental details.
GameSim – Vehicle and Simulation Specialists
GameSim is a UK-based studio specializing in vehicle physics, simulation systems, and technical implementations for racing games and military simulations. Their credit on Prime 4 likely relates to Vi-O-La, the hoverbike vehicle Samus uses to traverse the open Sol Valley region. GameSim would have handled the physics model, handling characteristics, and integration with Prime 4’s first-person shooting mechanics.
Adding vehicles to a first-person Metroid game represents a significant design risk. The series has always emphasized on-foot exploration with occasional morph ball sections. Vi-O-La needed to feel fast and fun while not breaking exploration flow or creating situations where enemies couldn’t be engaged properly. GameSim’s simulation expertise ensured the hoverbike worked mechanically rather than being a buggy afterthought.
Why So Much Outsourcing
The 2019 development restart is the key context. When Nintendo pulled Prime 4 from Bandai Namco Studios (rumored initial developer) and handed it to Retro, they were essentially starting over with a studio that had shipped Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze in 2014 and spent the intervening years losing veteran staff and working on unknown projects. Retro needed to rebuild its team while simultaneously developing Prime 4 on an aggressive timeline.
Hiring permanent employees takes time – recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, and getting people productive can take 6-12 months per new hire. Retro couldn’t afford that timeline if they wanted Prime 4 ready for Switch 2 launch window. The solution was aggressive use of contractors and support studios who could ramp up quickly, deliver specific work packages, and scale down when their portion was complete.
One Reddit commenter noted parallels to other Nintendo projects: “Nintendo has engaged numerous studios in nearly all of their projects. The use of support studios has been a practice for more than ten years now.” But another countered that Prime 4’s outsourcing is qualitatively different: “Prime 4 is shaping up to be a significantly larger undertaking” compared to games like Kirby and Donkey Kong that also credit many support studios but for more limited roles.
The Cost Question
The Reddit comment calling this “Nintendo’s priciest endeavor to date” reflects speculation about Prime 4’s budget given the extensive contractor usage. AAA art outsourcing isn’t cheap – studios like Virtuos charge substantial fees for high-quality work. Multiply that across 21+ support studios over six years of development (2019-2025), plus Retro’s internal costs, plus the wasted investment in the pre-2019 Bandai Namco version, and Prime 4 likely cost Nintendo $100+ million.
For comparison, Tears of the Kingdom reportedly cost around $160 million and took six years. Metroid Prime 4 had a compressed timeline after the restart but needed to hit quality bars for a flagship franchise revival on new hardware. The decision to throw resources at the problem – hiring every support studio necessary to get it done right – reflects Nintendo’s desperation to avoid another delay or quality compromise after the 2019 restart embarrassment.
Did It Work
Reviews suggest the outsourcing strategy mostly succeeded. Digital Foundry called Prime 4 one of the best-looking Switch 2 games with locked 120fps performance and exceptional HDR. Critics praised the art direction, environmental design, and technical polish. The game feels cohesive rather than fragmented across multiple studios, suggesting Retro maintained strong creative direction while delegating execution.
However, some reviews criticized pacing issues, repetitive encounter design, and a lack of innovation compared to the original trilogy. NPR called it “polished but deeply flawed” with “misguided design decisions.” Whether those problems stem from Retro’s direction or complications from managing so many external partners is unclear. Coordinating 21+ studios inevitably creates communication overhead and risks design-by-committee compromises.
FAQs
How many studios worked on Metroid Prime 4?
At least 21 support studios assisted Retro Studios, including Next Level Games, Virtuos, Territory Studio, GameSim, Smoking Gun Interactive, Forge Studios, Original Force, Room 8 Studio, and many others.
Why did Prime 4 need so many support studios?
After the 2019 development restart, Retro needed to rebuild its team while hitting aggressive timelines for Switch 2 launch. Using contractors and co-development partners allowed faster scaling than hiring permanent staff.
What did Next Level Games do?
Specific individuals (Matt McTavish, Cavin Yen, Mark Blanchin, Christopher Rice) provided targeted support, likely leveraging their Federation Force experience with Metroid Prime mechanics and assets.
What does Virtuos do?
One of the world’s largest art outsourcing firms, Virtuos provides high-quality 3D models, textures, animations, and technical art for AAA publishers. They likely handled substantial environmental and character asset production.
Is this normal for Nintendo games?
Nintendo uses support studios regularly, but Prime 4’s outsourcing is more extensive and integrated than typical projects. Most Nintendo games outsource minor tasks like QA and localization, while Prime 4’s partners did co-development work.
How much did Metroid Prime 4 cost?
Not disclosed, but likely $100+ million given six years of development, extensive outsourcing, and the wasted pre-2019 Bandai Namco investment. Potentially Nintendo’s most expensive project ever.
Did the outsourcing hurt quality?
Reviews are mixed. Technical polish and art direction are praised, but some critics note pacing issues and lack of innovation. Whether that’s from Retro’s direction or coordination challenges with many studios is unclear.
What did Territory Studio contribute?
UI and screen graphics specialists who create holographic displays for films and games. They likely handled Samus’s visor displays, scanning interfaces, and environmental terminals.
What did GameSim do?
Vehicle physics and simulation specialists who probably handled the Vi-O-La hoverbike’s handling model, ensuring it felt good to control while integrating with first-person shooting.
Conclusion
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s credits reveal a development strategy built on extensive collaboration and outsourcing to deliver Nintendo’s most ambitious Metroid game on new hardware within aggressive timelines. Retro Studios couldn’t have achieved Prime 4’s scope and polish alone after the 2019 restart – they needed 21+ support studios providing art, animation, technical systems, and specialized expertise to supplement the core team’s creative direction. Whether this represents a new Nintendo development model or a unique response to Prime 4’s troubled history remains to be seen. But the fact that reviewers generally praise the game’s technical achievement while questioning some design decisions suggests the outsourcing strategy worked mechanically even if creative cohesion suffered in places. For better or worse, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is the product of one of gaming’s most complex development collaborations, turning a 2019 disaster into a 2025 Switch 2 showcase through sheer force of resources and coordination.