Highly Regarded Game Composer, and Metroid Fan, is Working at Retro Studios

People should not take this as a sign that Retro is making a Metroid game. Remember the last time Retro was making a new game? People were absolutely certain that it was going to be Eternal Darkness 2 but it ended up being 2D Donkey Kong. Besides, Retro is not the same company that made Metroid Prime. The company has changed and a lot of those key people don't work there anymore.

If its as good as tropical freeze anything would be appreciated.

...but make it metroid please

I honestly can't wait to see what they're working on, regardless if it's Metroid or not. Hoping to see it @E3!

@LeRaposa Its healthy to speculate and hope. I do agree in not getting your heart set on something

Dear god please just a Metroid game or an F-Zero! Or both! But mainly Metroid so many people love Metroid and it's not really been made since corruption way back in 2007!

All this Retro Studio talk better be for something good! I hope.

Ooh, Deus Ex has some nice music.

Anyway, I'm calling it: Retro's next game will be revealed this year at E3. Time to get your hopes up.

The insane amount of awesome tracks Alexander did in the past is testament of his incredible talent. Here is one of my favourite of his works, the entire soundtrack of "Tyrian"!

Come on, e3!

@NintyNate If so many people loved Metroid then why has it never sold well?

I hope it's a new IP. I want Retro to be free to do what ever they want and experiment with ideas and not be tied to an existing franchise.

Metroid Prime 4 confirmed

Plot twist: A 3DS exclusive

Honestly? I'm more hyped about the Alexander Brandon part than the Retro part. I simply adore the man. The work he did on Jazz Jackrabbit 2 truly shaped me. Really curious as to what they're working on.

Metroid Prime 4 confirmed!!!!!!

Unfortunately it's a New 2DS XL exclusive.

@gcunit you beat me by 10 seconds!

@gcunit Plot(er?) twist: A New 2DS XL exclusive.

Anything from retro will be appreciated, let's hope we get some good news at E3!

Remember that time a few months ago when they tweeted a picture of prime steak?

Donkey Kong Prime Confirmed.

Remember before Federation Forces came out, the developer said that game was fleshing out the Metroid universe ready for the next instalment....

I remember having a lot of fun with Metroid Prime Hunters at the time. I don't see why Nintendo don't just make an FPS Metroid in house again. Wouldn't need to keep getting our hopes up every time there's a stirring around Retro Studios either

A new Metroid period would be nice, though a new ip would be awesome.

He is an avid Metroid fan and he comment about work being incredible. What else do you need?

Breath of the Metroid.

Samus can climb on any surface. Instead of gradually obtaining power-ups, she gets them nearly at the start. Since Samus can fall from any height without taking damage, she has no need for any type of glider.

It's not Prime 4 until it's Prime 4. If it ends up being a Metroid game, it won't be a Prime game, going by Tanabe's words back when Federation Force was revealed. If they are working on a Prime game, then they'd have to have been working on something else between Tropical Freeze's release and that Tanabe interview, at least. Unless Retro just co-developed smaller games that have already come out and they haven't worked on their own project, that is.

"The work is incredibly exciting and the team is awesome" - this is enough for me. Can't wait to see the next game Retro puts out, whichever it is.

its mother 5

It'll be Metroid Prime IV I'm fairly certain, one thing the Switch (and Wii U) missed is a top notch FPS game, this could be the type of game to bring in those sorts of gamer who would go for a Halo or GOW type game

It's been obvious that they are working on a new Metroid Prime style game for quite some time now... new hirings... more secrecy than usual... even their responses to questions about it changed... they no longer denied that it was in development, instead either refusing to comment or answering a different question instead.

We can safely say that it's been in development for around 3 years now (although they've probably been preparing for it for much longer), and as it seems they're at the stage where they're recording the music for it, that likely means it's nearing completion, so can probably expect it within the next year, likely getting the first look at E3.

@FragRed it don't do well in Japan no, but in the us and here in UK it's very popular, I'm a huge fan, for a series not to do well it has like over 10 games sooo... We need a new Metroid, or an F-Zero it's been over a decade for both

Plot twist: Retro hasn't been working on anything for the past 3 years and are just sitting around thinking about what the next Donkey Kong Country Returns should be called while the fans keep speculating their wildest dreams of a Prime 4 or new IP.

Actually, I think this is the real thing and their next game will probably be another DKCR.

I'm kind of hoping they aren't doing a Metroid game, since that's what everyone's always expecting them to do.

I would like a 3rd DKC so that we have a trilogy, if not that, a new take on another old franchise or a new IP would be much appreciated.

Pretty confident they're working on a new IP.

@JamesR Just think, if you hadn't been so generous with those exclamation marks, you could be basking in the glory now.

As it is, you're the turnip

They've got to be up to something! Here's hoping Metroid 9* is Nintendo's next great single player game. A cross between Breath of the Wild and No Man's Sky?

*Did I get that right? I count M, M2, SM, MP, MP2, MP3, MPH and MOM)

Metroid Prime Federation Force Deluxe Edition, with additional DLC exclusive to the Switch. Nuff said.

Also, the JoyCon will allow you to feel the ball in the Blast Ball game, and it'll even have a sort of 1-2 Switch multi-player mode in which you can play the entire Blast Ball game purely through HD Rumble alone without ever having to watch the screen...

I remember him for his work in Unreal and UT. Did some good ones for both games.

Check out his Unreal and UT lineup on this page: https://liandri.beyondunreal.com/Unreal_music

And the internet explodes from everyone assuming Metroid.

I don't see this as any sort of implication that they're working on a Metroid game. Someone who happens to be a Metroid fan is excited about the game he's making, so that means it's a Metroid game? Seems a bit of a jump in logic to me.

I'd love for it to be a new Metroid game. Retro, however, I feel may not be as talented as they once. I don't want the next Metroid game to be Prime if it's largely 1st person. It needs a mix of 1st and 3rd person. Take the best aspects of Prime and Other M and fuse them together. I felt Nintendo missed an opportunity on Wii U: a 3rd person view on TV while the gamepad could have had a 1st person view. That can't happen now on the Switch.

I wouldn't say no to it being another 2D game either.

Super Metroid remake and expansion. Larger world, no way points, no dialog or cut scenes. One can dream.

One of the main reasons I love Nintendo is because of the metroid franchise. I've owned every metroid game thus far. I've learned not to get my hopes up anymore seeing as how for the last several years I keep hoping for a metroid announcement and don't get it. And even though metroid prime federation force got a lot of criticism I still bought it and played it... thought it was a lot of fun too! I don't care what retro is making anymore.... what I do hope is that there is a studio out there that is reinventing the metroid franchise and that we get some kind of true sequel that the fans want! Hopefully we will hear something by the time E3 has come and gone.

@DragonEleven If it's a Prime game, then that means one of two things:

1. Either Tanabe outright lied when he said he wasn't involved in anything Prime...
2. Or they began working shortly after that interview with him. It dates from E3 2015, I believe, which would give them 3 full years of dev time by E3 2018.

Coincidentially, Tanabe also mentioned something like "it wouod take us 3 years if we start now, hence why it won't be on Wii U but on its successor".

@Dakt
How did you know? My uncle, who happens to work at Retro, has spoken of the project on occasion.

He's said the entire game has been designed to be driven by motion controls - shooting, jumping, running...it does it all, and that hd rumble lets you feel your remaining bullets without even having to look at the screen.

@DragonEleven People also claimed that Retro was working on Eternal Darkness 2 and that turned out to be 2D Donkey Kong. The truth is we don't know what Retro is working. We don't know if this is still the same project they started a few years back.

Him being a part of Retro Studios sure has me hopeful of another science fiction game, even if it somehow isn't Metroid! I have a feeling he would help make an excellent Metroid soundtrack though, especially if he worked on Deus Ex.

@Thexare "Tyrian" has gone open source many years ago, there are several OpenTyrian projects already, they even released a version for Game Boy Advance if my memory serves me right. I would loooooooooooooooooooooove to have "Tiryan" calibre shmups on the Switch. I will just have to be patient for now...

@RadioHedgeFund Also Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission, though the latter is really an updated version of the original.

New Metroid please!!! The wait has been too long!

I liked Alexander Brandon BEFORE it was cool. </hipster hat>

No, seriously, he was big in the mod/tracker scene before his early breaks in gaming...he was great then too His star was rising in gaming back in the original Unreal, then, one of the coolest soundtracks around along with Michael Van den Bos, and the duo reprised their roles in the original Deus Ex, another top notch soundtrack.

Knowing Switch will get something with him scoring it is a treat indeed!

I personally wasn't a fan of the Prime games. PLEASE GIVE US a new 2D Metroid.

@MarcelRguez The question came up in this interview with IGN... http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/06/17/e3-2015-what-metroid-primes-producer-wants-in-the-next-sequel
...but notice that he doesn't answer the question he was asked... he only says he's not involved in 2D Metroid games, and can't say when a new prime game will be made... it may have already been in development... as a producer he could easily be involved with several games at the same time.
Also, Tanabe was speaking hypothetically when he gave the estimate of development time... Retro Studios would actually have started work on this game around the time Tropical Freeze was released in 2014, so the 3 year estimate would be accurate for release this year at the earliest.

Both Prime 3's 100% Ending and FF's post-credits scene show that they've got plans for the series' future, what with Slyux tailing Samus in the former and straight-up capturing a baby Metroid in the latter... .

Sylux is a character I want to see fleshed out. They're heavily implied to be a member of the Federation gone rogue (uses mostly experimental Federation tech, has human hands and basic physical features), and with they're general presence they'd be more fun to explore as characters and fight than the "comrade" hunters in Prime 3.

That, and we could get a new villain and a non-Samus Metroid rep in Smash.

Hel yeah! Bring the metroid. Im going to dream about a new metroid game tonight for sure lol. Just kidding.
But i think that they will show some new metroid at E3

If it ain't David Wise; I don't care.

Metroid Metroid me me me me me metroooiid!!!

I'd say we'll find out soon, one way or another. Can't help but think another DKC game, but who knows? 😛

FYI, I tweeted this info to NintendoLife two days ago. There must be a big delay in time/space between the Fright Zone and Earth lol

Meh, I'd much rather have a new Donkey Kong Country.

I don't know if I want to see a new Metroid unless it is more exploration focused, much like what BoTW and Odyssey are for Zelda and Mario respectively, and brings Sylux back into the spotlight. With the exception of Other M, the last decade for Metroid has included teases of that character. I'm tired of the teases, but if they're not ready for him, I've got Metroid Prime Hunters to tide me over until they're finally ready to do that return.

@DragonEleven That's not the interview I was referring to. It was Eurogamer's, it seems.

Tanabe agreed that the Wii U GamePad would be an interesting tool to work with for a game in the series but went on to say that he had not been able to gather the team and resources necessary to develop another mainline game in the Metroid Prime series for Wii U so far.

This is pretty clear cut, it means there was no team working on anything Prime in July 2015. I don't have any reason to believe Tanabe was lying, mainly for two reasons: he's a japanese dev and, if they were working on a mainline installment, they would have used that as damage control during the whole Federation Force fiasco.

So, applying Tanabe's estimate to that date, it would mean the game could be finished by E3 2018. That's assuming they began working on one right after E3, which doesn't strike me as particularly likely.

I'm with @IceClimbers on this, my money is on Retro developing a new IP. I know Emily Rogers was the one that put it out first only to say later she didn't trust that info anymore, but if not that I don't know what it might be.

And here I was, thinking he'd be an amazing amateur composer spotted by Nintendo. In case you're wondering, look up BlueNoctrn (yes, "noctrn"), Skotein, MrModez Pineapple and many, many others on Youtube.

Hell, just look for comments such as "you should work for [X]". And let me know.

@MarcelRguez Seeing as that isn't an actual quote, we can't tell what exactly he said... if he was choosing his words carefully (like in the quote I referred to) then he may have been intentionally attempting to mis-lead them.
But it sounds as if he was speaking in past tense, not present tense, so still does not necessarily mean that it wasn't already in development at the time.
What we can take from that is that they would have needed to take on new team members in order to develop a new Metroid Prime game... and as I briefly mentioned in my original comment, Retro Studios were taking on new employees from 2014-2016, so this would fit.

There's also the very real possibility that Tanabe isn't (or at least wasn't at the time) involved in Retro Studio's current project.
Despite having been producer for almost every Retro Studios game to date, when Federation Force was released he claimed to know very little about their current project, implying that he had not worked with them since Tropical Freeze in 2014... so even if they were working on a new Metroid Prime game, all he would know about it would be what had been discussed with him previously... he would not have had any current knowledge of it.

@DragonEleven The direct quotes are in the actual source:

If we started for Wii U now, it would likely take three years or so. So it would likely now be on Nintendo's NX console. It's a long time but it would need to include a lot of content, which would take a lot of work on the development side.

And about new games:

I'm the producer of the Metroid Prime series, and [Metroid series co-creator] Yoshio Sakamoto is the one in charge of Metroid itself. I'm not sure when he's planning on making such an announcement so I can't speak for him.

I'm not thinking about anything like that [partnering with another studio] right now. We have nothing to announce on working with any specific team.

Other than that, as long as he's still the producer of the series, there's no Prime game without Tanabe. He has been involved with literally everything with 'Prime' in the title, including Metroid Prime Pinball. There's no way a Prime title is in development without him knowing about it, if not being directly involved. That's just not how this works.

If anything, if Tanabe isn't involved with whatever Retro studios is doing, that means they're not working on Metroid Prime. Not Metroid period, mind you, but Prime in particular. Sakamoto could be involved, for all we know. That's kind of the thing with this project, we know next to nothing about it.

Metroid Prime x Conky Dong Returns: Tropical federation hangover.

@MarcelRguez As I said before, that first quote is hypothetical, and could easily have been meant to mis-lead.

I also began by referring to the new game as being a 'Metroid Prime style' game... I don't think it will be part of the Metroid Prime series... just be a similar style of game.
This mainly ties back to the staff issue again... Mark Pacini, the director of the three main Prime games (along with a couple of other key members of staff), left Retro Studios after Corruption... they were more important to the series than Tanabe, so it would be difficult for Retro Studios to produce another main series Prime game without them (I noticed similarities between the Prime games and ReCore when I was playing it last year, and that gave me an idea of what Retro Studios had lost with their departure).
Tanabe would still be able to continue the Prime series in the form of spin-offs like Federation Force, but if Retro Studios were to make any more main series 3D Metroid games it just wouldn't be the same... they wouldn't be able to rightfully call it a Prime game... it would need to be the first in a new series.

@DragonEleven Broadly speaking, Nintendo devs (and Japanese devs not named Kamiya) don't mislead reporters like that. I can't think of any reason why he'd tell a lie like that instead of giving a vague answer.

Other than that, I think people tend to overrate Pacini's involvement with the franchise, but that's just me. In any case, if it's true that key staff members are gone (the only names that come up are Pacini's and that concept artist's), that would be yet another reason for Retro to do something other than Prime 4 or a Prime-like game, wouldn't it?

And about the nomenclature, I don't agree. The 'Prime' name isn't tied to anything other than 'Metroid in first person'. And pinball, I guess. It's the sole reason why Federation Force is a Prime game despite being developed by Next Level Games.

@MarcelRguez He didn't lie, he just answered a different question from the one he was asked... and Nintendo are always being secretive about unannounced games they have in development... usually they just say that they can't talk about that sort of thing when asked, but Tanabe doesn't say that... he just talks about something else instead.

If I hadn't played ReCore, I would probably have said the same thing about Pacini and the others that left, but there was something very Metroid Prime-esque about the game as I was playing through it, which was most likely the result of their input in both games.
That said, Retro Studios would still have had enough of the Metroid Prime formula to make a similar Metroid game... it would just have been lacking the extra something that made the main Prime games what they were... they'd have had to replace it with something different, which would have set it apart from the main Prime games... and while that's fine for a spin-off, they can't really do the same with a main series game.

Think about it in relation to Hunters... Hunters stuck pretty close to the formula established by the first two Metroid Prime games, but wasn't developed by Retro Studios... it lacked the unique touch that Retro Studios brought to the franchise, which sets it apart from the main series games as a spin-off... the same would be true for any other instalments in the Prime series... they'd be stuck as being considered spin-offs, which are never as successful as main series games, so they'll want to avoid that.

@DragonEleven Did you check the interview? He answered the question pretty clearly:

Truth be told, making HD games takes a lot of time and resources.I haven't been able to collect a team or the resources to do it.

The implication here is that Tanabe's only project was Federation Force and that Retro isn't working with him, so no Metroid Prime/Prime-like. If there was a game in development at that time under his supervision, it means he outright lied.

@MarcelRguez As I said two comments ago, Tanabe most likely isn't (or wasn't at the time) involved with it.
At no point has he actually said that there is not a new Prime-like game in development... that's the point I keep coming back to... every time he has been asked about it he has answered a different question... either talking about his personal position in the matter or the requirements for that sort of project.

But everything he has said points towards Retro Studios and Yoshio Sakamoto... they meet every requirement Tanabe described... Retro Studios have had the time, they have the resources, and they've assembled a team, while Sakamoto has the authority to pull the strings to make it happen.

@DragonEleven We're running in circles. As I've said more than two comments ago, there's no Prime (or Prime-like, whatever you want to call it) without Tanabe. Not as long as he's still the producer of that sub-series. Either he is involved with a new game and he managed to gather a team after that interview or there's no new game period. Prime-like or not, it doesn't matter: if it's Metroid in first-person, Tanabe is involved. It's his role.

That last paragraph I agree with, though. It is a possibility. In which case, I bet it will be a similar game to Other M. Third person camera, main series artstyle.