The team working on Metroid Prime 4 has welcomed Kyle Hefley into the fold as the studio’s new lead character artist. Halo fans may recognize the dev as the man responsible for designing Master Chief and Spartan Locke in Halo 5: Guardians. While not much is currently known about the next Metroid Prime title, Retro Studios does find itself in a unique position as a company that was approached to spearhead the project after another studio fumbled the development of a fourth Prime title to the point of cancellation.
Halo Infinite and its developer 343 Industries has also seen an exodus of sorts from longtime staff members in recent months. The most prominent is likely the departure of Halo Infinite's creative director Tim Longo, which has some people concerned about the title. Still, some of those moving on from Halo were bound to end up working on another project, and one designer may have found a rather perfect fit given his sci-fi background.
Kyle Hefley has been confirmed as the latest hire by Retro Studios, according to Video Games Chronicle. As mentioned, he will take on the mantle of lead character artist at the studio which, truthfully, seems like a perfect gig for someone that's had a hand in creating armor for Master Chief. Hopefully, his take on Samus Aran is something received a little more warmly than that of Chief's Halo 5 design, assuming Hefley will personally be trying his hand at creating his own rendition of the iconic bounty hunter.
At the very least, there's a lot of source material to draw from for Hefley. Furthermore, if Retro Studios is still hiring core members to design characters, this likely means that Metroid Prime 4 is still a ways off from release. That's a dissapointing pill to swallow for fans that have long been waiting for the game, but assurances that it is coming in time are likely enough to keep diehard Prime followers satiated.
Hopefully, gamers will be able to see Hefley's in due time, as it'll be great to see how someone who worked on Halo brings a rugged, combat-worn aesthetic to Metroid Prime. Perhaps there will be a new level of realism added to the series with this new entry? Whatever the gameplan is for Retro Studios, fans will have to wait a while longer to see any of it.
Source: Video Games Chronicle