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Retro Studios is an American [[VideoGames video game]] developer based in Austin, Texas.

The company was founded by Jeff Spangenberg in 1998, after he left Creator/{{Acclaim}} and was tasked by {{Creator/Nintendo}} to create five new games, aimed at adult audiences, for their NintendoGameCube as a third-party developer. When Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto visited the studio, he didn't like the games being developed, but was impressed at Retro's first-person prototype engine, and levied support for the developer, asking if they would like to make a ''{{VideoGame/Metroid}}'' title. In 2002 (following a TroubledProduction, which saw the other titles being cancelled and Nintendo hastily acquiring Spangenberg's controlling shares to remove the absent president from the company), the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' trilogy was born, a series of {{First Person Shooter}}s set in the milieu of Nintendo's ''Metroid'' franchise. With the critical and universal success of Metroid Prime's first release, Nintendo turned Retro Studios into a first-party developer, who would make video games exclusively for the gaming giant. This couldn't have come at a better time, as third-party developer {{Rare}} (which Nintendo had controlled the majority of its shares at the time), was later acquired by Microsoft in the same year.

Arguably, Retro Studios' biggest claim to fame (at the moment) is the Prime trilogy, until Nintendo's {{E3}} 2010 press conference, where they unveiled their next project: ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', released in the 2010 holiday season. A 2D side-scrolling PlatformGame in the mold of Rare's ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games, fan reaction was met with rejoicing, as nearly every element in the Country games were intact ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVq7XNV7K0w judging from the first trailer]]), but just to prove Retro really cared, the development team sat down and played ''all'' previous Country games to prepare for the new one; even the current CEO of Retro had a hand in the original ''Donkey Kong Country''. Although Retro hasn't planned on making a sequel, neither have they ruled out the possibility (they were responsible for the ''Donkey Kong''-related parts and the "[[StealthPun Retro]]" tracks of ''[[MarioKart Mario Kart 7]]'').

The future seems bright for Retro, with a new WiiU game in development, and the incredible success of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' and ''Mario Kart 7''. [[http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/12/miyamoto-interview-transcript/all/1 A recent 2011 interview with]] Miyamoto [[WordOfGod revealed]] that he was interested in [[DreamTeam letting them take a crack at one of the company's most prized franchises]], ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''. While it hasn't been confirmed to be a reality quite yet, it was enough for fans to have a moment of rejoicing.

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