Original Metroid Prime Developers Express Frustration At Being Excluded From Remaster’s Credits

Developers on the original Metroid Prime have expressed frustration and anger at not being included in the credits of the recently released remaster.

Via a report from Axios, Zoid Kirsch, who was a senior engineer on the original game, posted on Twitter that he was “disappointed” that the original development team’s name were not included in the remaster’s credits. Technical lead engineer Jack Matthews quotetweeted Kirsch’s statement and said that the exclusion was a “travesty.” Matthews also made a statement to Axios, “When my son plays Metroid Prime on the Switch for the first time, the fact that he won’t see [my] and my colleagues’ names in the credits as the original creators is a punch in the gut.”

Currently, the game shows a title screen which reads, “Based on the work of Metroid Prime (Original Nintendo Gamecube and Wii Versions) Development Staff.” The rest of the credits concern the remaster itself, listing the employees at various studios who contributed to the project. Other remasters Nintendo has published have included the original development team in the credits, such as Skyward Sword HD.

Credits in games can be frequent source of controversy, with developers who depart a project before release often being left out. The Axios report notes the guidelines of the International Game Developers Association which state that “ports, remasters, remakes and re-releases must retain the original names that worked on the game.” However the association does not have any legal power to enforce these guidlines.