It has now been five years since Nintendo announced that development Metroid Prime4 was rebooted and handed over to a new steward, the creators of the Metroid Prime series, Retro Studios. Nintendo has said little about the game since, leading to speculation that the fourth Metroid Prime game will serve as a swan song for the Nintendo Switch or as a big launch title for that console’s successor, dubbed the “Nintendo Switch 2.” .
On January 25, 2019, Shinya Takahashi, senior managing executive officer at Nintendo, announced that “current development progress has not reached the standards we are looking for in a sequel to the Metroid Prime series” and confirmed an indefinite postponement of the game. Development on Metroid Prime4 had reportedly moved from Bandai Namco’s studios to Austin-based Retro.
Since, Metroid Prime4 has remained on Nintendo’s upcoming release schedule with a “TBA” release date. The Switch maker hasn’t committed to any kind of release, and with reports suggesting that the next generation of Nintendo consoles is imminent, many Nintendo fans have been wondering if Metroid Prime4 will still be a Switch game.
That could still be possible. It could also be a next-generation Nintendo game, as Nintendo has a small but notable track record of multi-generational releases. In 2006, Nintendo released it The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on both the ailing GameCube and the brand new Wii. Just over a decade later, it did something similar: let go The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on both Wii U and Nintendo Switch.
With Switch 2 reportedly offering backwards compatibility support for games released on the original Switch, a dual-platform release doesn’t seem out of the question.
Polygon contacted Nintendo for an update Metroid Prime4‘s status, but has not received a response.
However, we may get more information soon. For the past five years, Nintendo has released a new Nintendo Direct showcase every February. And now that some of the company’s plans for 2024 are emerging (e.g. Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Princess Peach: Showtime!, Paper Mario: The Millennial Door), Nintendo fans are ready for updates on those games and hopefully more.
Nintendo enthusiasts hungry for new information about Metroid Prime4 have certainly dug in recent years. In 2020, vacancies at Retro Studios revealed that the developer was looking for a storyboard artist who could help “define emotional scenes that resonate with the audience” and “explore interesting and innovative scenes that take the story to the next level.” If Retro hiredit brought in developers with experience in franchises such as Grand Theft Auto, God of War and Call of Duty, which further strengthened the AAA ambitions of Metroid Prime4.
Retro Studios previously worked on three Metroid Prime games and the 2009 Wii collection that bundled that trilogy. Metroid Prime4 is the developer’s only announced project, and the studio is currently looking to fill several roles, though it’s unclear if these roles will work specifically for the next Metroid Prime game.
And since Nintendo originally announced it Metroid Prime4, way back in 2017, during that year’s E3, it released a handful of games in the franchise to win over fans. This also applies to 2017 Metroid: Samus returns, a lavish remake of a Game Boy game; 2021 Metroid anxiety, a classic side-scrolling adventure game that would go on to become the best-selling Metroid game to date; and last year’s Metroid Prime remastereda revised version of the GameCube original.