Retro veterans form new studio

Three of Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios’ chief staff have formed a new development house, called Armature Studio.

The new studio, which is also based in Austin, was formed by Mark Pacini, Todd Keller and Jack Mathews – the former game director, art director and principal technology engineer of the Metroid Prime series, respectively. It will work to create new IP prototypes with the flexibility of a small studio, with development scale coming from partnerships with ‘strategic external developers’, with the Armature staff acting as hands-on producers.

Speaking to Kotaku, Pacini said: "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."

The studio will report to EA GM Lou Castle as part of its experimental EA Blueprint division, and Castle will also act as executive producer on Armature’s games.

"I can’t begin to describe how thrilled I am to be working with the talented team that created such an amazingly well-crafted series of games," said Castle.