On December 6, The Game Awards will celebrate some of 2018's best games, players, and content creators, handing out awards in categories ranging from Game of the Year to Best eSports Moment. However, that is not all that is on the night's agenda, as viewers can expect a slew of exciting reveals during the show. According to a tease from Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime, an announcement from Nintendo will be among them.
In a recent tweet, Shesez, the creator of the YouTube video game series Boundary Break, re-shared a clip from an extended video of Fils-Aime and The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley at E3 2018. Squaring-off for some rounds of Mario Tennis Ace, the two joke about the December 7 release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate stealing The Game Awards' thunder. Eventually, Fils-Aime relents, suggesting that Nintendo will simply "need to do something special" on the show to compensate.
What could Nintendo be planning? Speculation abounds, however, several teases from members of the video game media point in one direction: Metroid Prime 4. Compiled by ResetEra user Meelow, Tweets from a GameXplain cast member, Spawn Wave Media, and Direct-Feed Games all allude to Samus's presence at The Game Awards. Additionally, a photo shared by Keighley in September has had the rumor-mill turning for months about the game's presence at the show.
Metroid Prime 4 was announced through a very brief teaser during the Nintendo Spotlight at E3 2017. Little was revealed other than that the game was indeed in development for Nintendo Switch, and the silence around the title since, including its total absence from E3 2018, has been deafening.
Is this just wishful thinking, or does this speculation have legs? 18 months has certainly felt like a long time for no news to emerge about the next entry in the Metroid franchise. With the details of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate thoroughly revealed, The Game Awards seem like a perfect opportunity for Nintendo to share more on what is certain to be a blockbuster Switch release, and any further details on Samus's next adventure would certainly be classified as "something special" by many.
The Game Awards 2018 airs on December 6, 2018 at 9:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM PT.