This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

Retro have been stocking up on staff members since they were enlisted to restart development on the upcoming Metroid Prime 4. Having recently hired former Halo designer Kyle Hefley as their lead character artist, they’ve now turned to a familiar face for the role of Principal Game Designer.

VGC reports that Stephen Dupree has rejoined the company he spent more than ten years at before leaving for Super Lucky’s Tale developer Playful Corp in 2017.

Although Dupree has never been credited with any work on previous Metroid titles, he was formerly the lead designer for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, as well as working on Donkey Kong Country Returns and Mario Kart 7.

It remains to be seen whether he’ll be making his first foray into the Metroid franchise of course, but we’re currently unaware of any other games Retro may be working on.

It’s been nearly six years since Tropical Freeze first released on Wii U, so there could well be other Retro projects on the go that Dupree may help add the finishing touches too. Our money is on Metroid Prime 4 though.

Do you think this re-hire from Retro is a positive sign for Metroid Prime 4? Let us know down in the comments.

Source: VGC