This is an Emily Rogers rumor FYI.
Basically, the majority of the people who worked on the Metroid Prime series were either laid off or left to work at other companies. The Retro that exists now is a shadow of its former self. The fact that Uncharted developers were hired by Retro, plus the large list of people that left makes me think this is very real.
I don't know if its the working conditions or the deadlines, but something is making people jump ship at Retro. After their Wii U project is done, a ton are planning to leave for other companies like BioWare (perhaps because having Retro in your resume will land you a better paying gig?). It seems Nintendo is continually hiring developers from across the industry to fill in this gap, since Retro is first-party.
Either way, I hope their next game doesn't bomb because of this. I'm sure it wont, since the DKCR project was a great success after the main Metroid team left. But it just goes to show you how many people get hired and leave the company.
EDIT: After some research, it seems the Metroid team departure was already well known, and that the biggest rumor is how unstable their workforce really is.
Edited by SpacePope, 15 June 2012 - 02:34 AM.