Key Members of Metroid's Development Team Leave Retro Studios

According to Shacknews, key members of Retro Studios development team have left to pursue other options.  Design director Mark Pacini, art director Todd Keller, and principal technology engineer Jack Mathews were “escorted off the premises last Friday.”

If they truly were escorted off the premises, it doesn’t bode well for a continued relationship between a possible new studio and Nintendo.
Fortunately, Retro Studios is still alive and kicking and more than capable of putting out sweet games.

Retro Studios was founded in 1998 and later acquired by Nintendo in 2001.  Retro was the developer behind the excellent Metroid Prime trilogy that found both commercial and critical success.