It is no surprise to anyone that Metroid Dread, the new installment of the important IP of Nintendo, has received a great reception from fans as well as critics. For many it is one of the best installments of the franchise thanks to its excellent gameplay and great level design. The new 2D game from the Gran N company was the successful result of its collaboration with the Spanish studio MercurySteam.
And although it seems to indicate that everything is honey on flakes for MercurySteam, at this time they are involved in a controversy by one of his collaborators who made it known to the public that he did not receive credit for his work in the title of Metroid Dread.
Roberto Mejias, 3D artist who participated in the creation of the game, used his personal account of LinkedIn to give comments that opened Pandora’s box regarding the situation. Mejías pointed out the following in a recently published post:
“I would like to sincerely congratulate the team of Metroid Dread for putting out such an outstanding game. However, I was not surprised by the quality of the game, as the amount of talent on that team was through the roof. I know this firsthand because, despite not being included in the game credits, I was part of that team for eight months. While playing the game, I have recognized quite a few assets and environments that I worked in… so my work is there. So I’d like to ask MercurySteam: Why aren’t they appearing in the game’s credits? Is it some kind of mistake? “
A representative of MercurySteam declared for the Spanish media Vandal, that the company regulations are as follows: ”“ The studio’s policy requires that anyone must work on the project at least 25% of the time, of the total game development, to appear in the final credits ”. He also added “Of course, sometimes exceptions are made when making exceptional contributions.”
We will have to wait for the direction that all this problem takes, which once again reveals the complicated work environment that occurs in some developer studios.