Nintendo has experienced a lot of success with its popular hybrid console, the Switch. Already, the system has seen a ton of great first party content including games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Super Smash Bros Ultimate. While Nintendo continues to be overly vague about the rest of its 2020 release plans, one game in particular that still seems to mystify and intrigue Switch players is Metroid Prime 4.
Not only is this a continuation of a beloved franchise, but the last time players saw a new Prime game was all the way back on the Nintendo Wii in 2007 with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. After Metroid Prime 4's reveal in 2017, Nintendo has gone completely silent, content to let rumors and speculation fuel the fire that fans continue to have for this franchise. While many hold out hope that this game will launch later this year, Nintendo has given no indication one way or the other.
So while the curious development of Metroid Prime 4 continues, here's a running history of everything fans know regarding the game's life cycle.
The Reveal - 2017
While Nintendo typically doesn't reveal its plans more than 6 months to a year in advance, Metroid Prime 4 sent shockwaves throughout the industry for its shocking reveal. During its E3 2017 presentation, Nintendo revealed a very short teaser trailer with just a logo for Metroid Prime 4. That was enough to send fans into a frenzy, even without any game footage or actual details. When pressed about it after the show, Nintendo remained vague, only confirming that longtime developer Retro Studios was not working on this one. Series producer Kensuke Tanabe was again attached to the project, and it was eventually discovered that the title was in the hands of Bandai Namco Singapore.
An earnings call in July left the release date for Metroid Prime 4 as TBD, or to be determined. The listing left fans confused as other titles listed like the then unknown Pokemon Sword and Shield had a release window of 2018 or later. With TBD listed, it became clear that Metroid Prime 4 was still a very long ways off.
The Assurances - 2018
As 2017 gave way to 2018, the silence surrounding Metroid Prime 4 became deafening. Rumors towards to end of 2017 indicated Nintendo was preparing a gameplay reveal sometime early in 2018, though nothing ever transpired. Hope began to build as E3 2018 approached that June.
However, fans were again left wanting as the game wasn't featured at all during Nintendo's show. Nintendo marketing manager Bill Trinen offered a bit of insight as to why Nintendo made that decision, saying the game just wasn't ready to be shown at that point. The title was shown earlier than usual to help build excitement for the console moving forward. Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime also mentioned that Metroid Prime 4 was well into development and proceeding well.
As the year progressed, fans began to hope that the game's reveal would be part of The Game Awards ceremony in December, an event that honors the games industry but also holds numerous reveals as well. Nintendo added fuel to the fire by saying it was planning something special for the show. Naturally, fans thought Metroid was a shoe-in, though Nintendo ultimately revealed Persona's Joker as the first DLC character for Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
The Development Reset - Early 2019
It wouldn't take long for Metroid Prime 4 to make headlines once again even though it wasn't the news fans had hoped for. According to Nintendo executive Shinya Takahashi, development on the game wasn't going as well as the company had hoped, which was a major portion as to why the game had yet to be shown. As such, development had been moved back to Retro Studios, the original studio behind the Prime titles. As a result of the move, the entire game was being restarted from scratch, pushing back its release date even further. As a result of this announcement, Nintendo's shares dropped nearly 3% that same week.
The Rumors - Late 2019
As the year continued on, new rumors began to surface regarding the game. Many came from LinkedIn, where players stumbled across job listings for Retro Studios, such as an Art Director. While Metroid was never mentioned specifically for these roles, many of the listings appeared in April, four months after the announcement regarding the restart. With so many important positions not yet filled, fans assumed that Metroid Prime 4 wasn't coming anytime soon.
In fact, an ad that appeared on LinkedIn and caught by fans indicated that Retro was looking to hire a temporary position for an Environment Outsourcing Review Artist. This set off a buzz in the community asking the question whether or not part of the development process was outsourced as this role was primarily responsible for reviewing outsourced work to make sure it is up to Retro's quality standards. The description indicated that environmental art was a big portion of this person's responsibility, though to be fair, it never listed Metroid Prime 4 specifically. So there's a bit of debate that continues to rage on if Nintendo outsourced part of the game's development to help speed things along.
The Hiring Frenzy - 2019 to 2020
As the LinkedIn posts indicated, Retro Studios went on a hiring spree after getting Metroid Prime 4 back. The studio took on a lot of high profile names from studios like DICE, 343 Studios, Gunfire Games, Playful Studios, and more. Between them, the new hires have worked on some of the biggest titles out there including Battlefield V, Halo: Infinite, Crysis 3, Darksiders 3, and Mirror's Edge Catalyst to name a few.
Unfortunately, there hasn't been much else in terms of news regarding Metroid Prime 4. With Nintendo still playing coy with regards to a Summer Nintendo Direct event, fans continue to hold out hope that more news is around the corner.
Metroid Prime 4 is in development for the Nintendo Switch.