Metroid Prime 4 Development Scrapped, Will Be Restarted Alongside Retro Studios

Can we get an F in chat please?

Now we know what Retro Studios is making.

The meme can die.

Also if this was say, EA, we'd never hear this publicly nor would it be restarted.

F&%^£$&$£&^£$^$&*,
best regards

Well it sucks but its for the best. Takes balls to be open about a project not going well.

If that's what it takes for it to be good, I don't mind.

Wonder if this means if there were to be a new Paper Mario game, Tanabe might be unable to be the producer of that game.

Well I'll take the Prime trilogy HD remaster for Switch with added gyro aim In the meantime please Nintendo.

I thought that releasing both the original trilogy and Prime 4 in the same year would have been silly (who would even have the time to complete all three games within 6 months, and still be yearning for more?) but the timing for a Trilogy port would be perfect for this year.

@Knuckles-Fajita But what was Retro making before this?

Welp, no 2019 for you, Metroid Prime 4 (or 2020 for that matter).

I'm fine with them ceasing development and starting over with Retro Studios, which means the project is in good hands now. Also more time for me to get into the Prime trilogy, as I've only played the 2D games. 😛

Wow!! business and honesty, that's a surprise.

Obviously disappointed but would far prefer a great game!

Disappointing but yet I want quality.

Like others are saying, this isn't a bad thing. It initially sucks that it's getting completely restarted, but if they really felt that it needed it, we would have gotten a shifty product otherwise.

Just give us a Metroid Prime Trilogy HD on Switch this year, ok? Then you can take all the time you need to get a good Metroid Prime 4 out.

It sucks that it's going to take so long for this game to be released, but not gonna lie, I'm REALLY excited for it now that Retro Studios is involved. Have they not been doing anything since Tropical Freeze? Geez. I also really appreciate how honest Nintendo was.

Nintendo has hella stones to be this open. It's refreshing considering the skullduggery that most studios pull, so whilst I'm REALLY disappointed about the delay, at least the transparency and humble apology has offset this somewhat. Here's hoping the final product will be worth the wait.

"Development update on Metroid Prime 4". Oh boy, I bet this is good news! - me

@Anti-Matter try 2024

Metroid 4 is delayed until Switch 2, enjoy ports of Trilogy in 2019.

I'm just hoping that the final product is worth the massive changes in development (and hell of good news too), other than that, plenty of good games already out there to pass the time.

This news sucks the life out of me more than a metroid could

I did mention back in September what retro might be up to

A good decision by Nintendo and a very good but honest way of dealing with the delay. I bet the original trilogy will now see a remaster on the Switch.

Oh wow this is so unexpected. I'm shocked, honestly... But hope the final game is worth the wait.

I'm just here to read the angry comments

Wait, Nintendo being honest and open about an upcoming game?? Wow! Please carry on with this Nintendo

So there is some good news hidden in this announcement, It means whatever Retro has been working on for the last 5 years is ready and we should soon hear about it.

@Knuckles-Fajita if this was EA they would just release it anyway next month without proper testing. And all the equipment upgrades would have to be purchased from loot boxes.

Seriously, though, how refreshing to see software developers be so honest and so commited to quality. I am always of the opinion that a great late game beats a punctual bad one.

There has been a rumor that things at Retro are going to well with its management. That might have been the reason why Nintendo tried someone else for Prime 4.

Hahahahaah this is priceless

And Federation Force did meet their quality standards?
Seriously though, this is indeed a refreshingly honest update. Better a great game later than a mediocre one soon. Lots of games to play.

Big cohones. Respect.

You know, in the video, he mentions Nintendo strives for the highest quality and yet they released games like 1-2 Switch and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival.

@DTfeartheBEARD agreed. To compensate on our missing out. We're gracious fans like that

I’m thinking this releases 2022 at the earliest. While the news is disappointing, I am glad Nintendo was willing to share this with the fans. I believe this will generate a lot of goodwill towards the company and with their release schedule for this year they can afford to take their time on other games because they still have plenty of what should be good games coming out. A lot of companies should start being as transparent as Nintendo was in this instance. Heck Nintendo should strive to consistently be this forthcoming with information.

Disappointing to be sure, but I appreciate Nintendo's humility. Still working my way through the series anyway.

Quality matters and Nintendo knows this. I appreciate this honesty so much, yeah, I’m disappointed, but I appreciate a decision like this more.

Tanabe really needs a supervisor for his works because he's been blundering a very large part of the 2010's. I'm not going to lie, I'm disappointed but not as much as I should be if they weren't being honest.

Tanabe, if it took you 2 years to realize the problem, maybe have someone who can slap you on the head with a paper fan if they think a prjoect is going downhill.

No one but Retro should have touched this series after the Prime Trilogy. My heart literally skipped a beat when I saw they were having to start again (I'm clearly in too deep), but I am DELIGHTED Retro are now involved. They remind me of old Rare for some reason. GIMME IT (in 3.5 years)

This video shows why I love Nintendo so much. They're upfront about the game, they apologize about it, and they are already making a new game with Retro.

Better than launch a broken game that's supposed to be fixed by patch number 30, months after its release.

Edit: You know what? Give me Prime Trilogy HD and I won't even care about the delay.

@chardir exactly my thoughts!!!

Retro hasn’t made a bad game till this day ! So I trust this will give us the best Metroid Prime possible

I respect honesty. After getting over the initial disappointment about the delay (Though I'm not too surprised), I'm okay with this. This shows that Nintendo is committed to delivering an excellent, high-quality game that will please everyone. Clearly the development of the game before they went back to the drawing board wasn't meeting expectations.

I'm content to wait. There are plenty of current and upcoming games that I need/want to play anyway. Plus, I'm ridiculously pleased that Retro Studios is back in the saddle for Metroid development.

Well, it's better than releasing a bad game I guess.

I saw this as soon as it was posted on YouTube and immediately knew it wouldn't be good news. Nintendo doesn't usually make update videos. I was afraid to watch since I had a feeling they stopped development completely. I'm glad they started over with Retro Studios. I had a feeling things weren't going that well and Nintendo knew what had to be done. I would be interested to know who were developing Prime 4 and what the game looked like before this change but I guess that's something we won't be seeing for a good while.

This surpasses the Super Smash Smash Bros. Brawl's delay in almost every category.

We are going to have to wait years for a release and we still don't know anything about it yet.

@antdickens And the fact Nintendo has just handed Metriod back to them would seem to indicate, what ever it is, Nintendo are impressed.

WOW!!

Now... what the heck has RETRO been up to otherwise, then???!!

For years??!!

If this means we were gonna get "AnOther M" but now we'll get "It's Actually Metroid Prime 4," then this is fantastic news.
Edit:
"...has not reached the standards we seek..."
Yep, that's exactly what's happening.

I really don't care. I'm patient...and I can't really get that excited for a game I haven't seen yet, even if it IS a Metroid game. Take your time, Nintendo. Get it right.

Although I'm not exactly thrilled about the wait I'm actually happy with this development, I'd been wondering since day why the decided to shaft Retro on their own series, glad to see they came to their senses

I think handing off the development to the less experienced team at Bandai Namco was a misguided in the first place.
Hearing Retro will be more heavily involved in this version of Prime 4 is excellent news, and I have no doubt it will be just as good as the previous trilogy.

Any chance of porting trilogy to keep us going

Saying the game will stand shoulder to shoulder with past prime titles though is a little worrying considering Federation Force is still a thing.

On one hand, I hate that they started the development all over again, as it means that it's not going to be done until around 2021. A shame.

On the other hand, though, it's really good to know that the saga returned to good hands. Knowing that Retro is working on it is always good news.

@ozwally

Care to remind us?

Can't really say I was expecting much of anything else.

Maybe Nintendo were a little too eager to please certain fans with the announcement. And maybe they remember what happened the last couple times they had contracted studios make Metroid games, where the end result didn't meet fan expectations.

Glad to hear that it's back in the capable hands of Retro. HOWEVER, this explains why we haven't seen even a single screen shot (the logo does NOT count). I'm willing to bet that Metroid 4 does NOT see the light of day on the Switch and if it does, it will release at the very end of the systems lifespan and have a release on whatever Nintendo's next system is. The same way that Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild saw releases on two consoles.

From my understanding the original Retro team who made 1 isn't the same Retro team we have today.

Either way I am glad to hear Nintendo put a halt to the game if it wasn't living up to their expectations.

Good. Now people can stop asking what is Retro doing. Tea tables get overturned from time to time in dev. Not worried about this.

I think the vast majority of responses on here indicate a lot of folks might have been in the same camp as me... excited but really nervous about the new game under its secret developers! People are okay with a substantial delay because they're confident it's being done right now.

I wonder if Star Fox Grand Prix has been cancelled

They can lull us over in the meantime with a Trilogy port.

Oh no... I didn’t think it was gonna make a release this year anyway but that’s still disappointing. Hopefully they release the trilogy to build up more hype and maybe get some new players into the series.

This means retro studios is still going ánd the quality will be guaranteed. I am deaply disappointed, but understand it completely. In the end I think this will be for the better. This completely takes away my concern off ''will this be a good game?''. Take your time to deliver Nintendo. There is enough on the horizon (if most of the announced games do launch in 2019)

@Optimusultimus I was just gonna say now may be the best time to announce Metroid Prime Trilogy Remastered.

What did Retro do the last 5-6 years anyway?

It is more humbling than humble that they offer such a direct (no pun intended) address where a simple website and social media announcement would have sufficed. Although I do assume that "living up to fans' expectations" is a metaphor here - fan expectations are always a dirty chaotic mess that's impossible to live up to, and I wanna hope attempting to do so wasn't what caused this development hell and an eventual project restart to begin with.

Let the game live up to their visions and dreams, regardless of how much time it may take. Fans can go to hell and audiences will survive on other backlogs many undoubtedly amassed since the game's reveal in 2017 anyway. And as for me, I have yet to play the first three games - or find reliable portable means to.

I think this is one of the reasons as for why we haven't gotten a Direct yet.

With this out of the way we might get a direct soon, so that we can wipe out tears.

I'm fine with this. I had been expecting the game this year. But I would really like to replay Super Metroid and Metroid II first. And also have time to enjoy Samus Returns. Now there's time for that 😉

Completely unbothered by this, I have a backlog of games like no other that I’ve yet to dive into that will certainly keep me occupied for the rest of this year and not to mention some other big releases that are on the way this year! So I can wait! 🤙🏽

That's fine. Gives me time to finish the Metroid Prime Trilogy on Wii, and now we know it'll be exactly the sort of game we were hoping it'll be.

Between this and FF7R, though... OUCH.

@Cartune

I’m of the same mindset

Its funny that my first reaction was bieng shocked Nintendo was upfront about this usually they wouldnt tell us anything.. Pikmin 4 anyone.. im glad Retro will be involved.

Appreciate honesty. If Nintendo doesn't think the previous development of the game was good, then I will wait longer for it.

Does explain a couple of things. I wonder, could this be the reason we haven't seen a Direct presentation yet? It would make sense if this game was on the docket to be teased. Plus, the influx of other new titles from left field: Luigi's Mansion 3 and Animal Crossing for 2019.

The video did it’s job and the people are happy. Job done

If I’m honest. I never thought it would come even 2020 anyway. I think the 2017 pic they showed was more to shock the audience and give it the hype and it did work as everyone was talking about it and this video just advertises their supposed honesty and humility which seemed to work for them.

Good plan nintendo

That Prime trilogy HD remaster is looking all the more important now.

Someone leaked Nintendo's April fools video 2 months early

Both good and bad news in my opinion. Bad being the fact that it has been restarted completely.
The good is that Nintendo believes it can deliver a better quality game that the one that was being developed.

Let's also be honest, it's rare to see a big company like Nintendo having this approach with its fans directly so I respect them and know that they will develop something really special.

It's sad to have to wait even longer now but I'm glad they made that decision and announced that to everyone to avoid speculation around the media.

The best thing to do now, as a fan, it's to "forget" about it for a while and ask for an update within 1-2 years from now.

Well, can't say I'm that optimistic
Retro Studios is no longer the studio it was before, so I want more details when they say that they are working with the "same team" as before, I highly doubt that they are working with exactly the same team ...
I still hope for the best, I'm very sad about this announcement, but I'll wait
Just release something to keep us waiting, like, you know ... Metroid Prime Trilogy ...

Wow... I'm happy at this descision. Not that I thought Bandai Namco was too weak to handle the job. I just like to hear that Nintendo cares as much for this franchise as they do for Zelda. .... and they do, obviously.

Good! I'd rather be introduced to the series through the original dev team rather than it be very different from the first three due to a change in direction.

I watched this video on YouTube before I saw this article, so the announcement was a total surprise to me. I was disappointed with the direction the dialogue was going until he said Retro is going to helm the project. The delay sucks, but knowing that it’s going back to the hands of the original developer is such a relief. They clearly know what they’re doing. I am so mixed on this, because it means we will be waiting a few more years for the game, but the end product is going to be so much better.
I appreciate their honesty, and I hope they learn from this. Don’t announce projects until you have something significant to show.

Never got around to playing Prime 2 or Prime 3. I guess this gives me some time to catch up. In stead of dusting off my Wii, I'd rather hold out for a Switch port with all the quality of life improvements afforded to them by all the nifty things Joycons can do.

@HeroicOtus You are 150% right, we don't want one of the best Nintendo licences to die because of a huge mistake like Star Fox Zero

@chardir It's believed that they were making that Star Fox racing game.
And a Square Enix studio in Singapore was dealing with Metroid.

I'm completely okay with this. Not many companies would come out and publicly state that the development has not been going well and it is not up to their standards so they're starting from scratch. Most companies nowadays would just push it out anyway.....

Actually a bit stunned by Nintendo's forthcoming honesty on this one, but glad that they have a quality standard. If anything, this is proof that Nintendo cares about Metroid (more than many of us thought). But with this delay, I don't expect to see this game until the end of the Switch's life.
But at least we finally kind of know what Retro is doing.

I say fair play to Nintendo on being honest and open with the consumer. They knew the hype was crazy for a new Metroid and do not want to disappoint. Especially with the reaction to federation force.
Retro studios are the perfect choice to develop and if it means starting from scratch I'm more than happy to wait.
Its a shame we will be waiting longer but hey theirs plenty of Metroid-vania games on switch to keep gamers going till release.

I'm completely fine with this. Much much better than delivering a crappy Metroid Prime 4.

Given it'll be at least 3 years until we see anything from it, there's a good chance it won't be playable on the current Switch. So maybe the next Switch iteration or new console is a good bet. Can only hope for either a Prime Trilogy or a port of Samus Returns. Well Nintendo love a port so I would guess both

I am glad they are honest and I think Retro will meet expectations just as they almost always do.

Darn. Oh well. I'm fine waiting for it. Don't know why they didn't use Retro in the first place since they did the first thee games?

I wonder why it took so long to realize this project was hitting the gutter. It's been what... 2 years since we heard that it was in development? Jeeze... what have Bandai Namco been doing all this time?

@Knuckles-Fajita still doesn't answer what Retro have been doing since Tropical Freeze though...

Obviously sad to hear its delayed but this game had a lot on its shoulders and high expectations due to its history and pedigree. Nintendo knows this and if development with its current studio was not up to scratch, I rather they burn it down and start again than spends ages trying to polish up something inherently flawed.

Besides, plenty to keep me occupied for now.

I am so sad that we won't be getting Metroid Prime 4 this year. But i am so much more upset for all the people that were working hard on this game for years, unable to make it work.
Knowing that Retro will be on board now is a great consolation.
Hey maybe in a decade or so development footage of the scrapped game will leak, they're always interesting to see. Silver linings.

But Nintendo needs that direct soon, more than ever.

I guess now we know what Retro is working on... ; )

Excellent news. Practically, the "real" Metroid Prime 4 was announced today.

@BarFooToo or that they scrapped or delayed whatever they were working on to save MP4. I don't think there is any silver lining here

That’s fine. Just give me Pikmin 4 already.

Maybe Retro's "new game" was MP4 all along.

At least when we were all certain Retro was going to develop MP4 in the first place... we were so wrong, that we were actually right.

@Anti-Matter
English is hard sometimes huh?

This is disappointing, I expected Metroid Prime to be the Switch tent pole game this year. Maybe they will release a prime collection at least to hold us over.

I'm pleasantly surprised that the comment section is fairly understanding. Guess having the guts to start from scratch and be open about it has led to a calmer reaction. Props to Ninty.

This is the good sort of bad news.

See, this is great. They are being open. So much better than what other companies do.

The game never existed and was never in development is my guess. God damn Nintendo i love you but these huge development cycles kill me. Have killed me. I speak today via the medium of Ouija.

I'm shocked and in no doubt not the only one. But it's for the better. I trust Nintendo that much. When do you guys think when we'll get MP4 now? 2022? On a new version of the Switch perhaps?

Please understand

Honesty is the best policy... Metroid trilogy HD on switch is also now the best policy

Send another Bounty Hunter on this mission. How about Captain Falcon with a new F-Zero title?

That is extremely disappointing news... This probably means we'll have to wait another 2-3 years for it.

I like that they're open about it though.

Nintendo are clearing the decks of any disappointment and radio silence- MP4 is delayed, no price cut or new model. Honest and humble, which is a good way to do business.

If I were Ninty I would follow this up the week after with a bit of good news for next Thursday....?

Well, at least Retro are back involved.

Metroid prime 4 delayed is okay for good. But I hope they don't delay yokai watch 4.

I'm actually shocked Nintendo came forth and said something at all. This news is disappointing but not something to worked up over. Still looking forward to Metroid Prime 4 whenever it releases.

I feel bad for the people that worked on it for 2 years and now all that hard work is scrapped

I am shocked but not bothered.

I want a trilogy first anyways and wouldnt mind ports of the Gamecube zelda games either.

Also Bayonetta3, Doom E, Wolf youngblood, M. Kombat11, and who knows what else.

The only thing i want is the eshop to improve more.

I did not see this coming. I thought it was radio silence because they were gonna drop a big trailer or something. Completely scrapping the game means this will be a 2022-2023 title now.

At least we wont wait in anticipation now. I do appreciate that from Nintendo. It also shows you the esteem in which Retro Studios is held. Nintendo is basically saying "bail us out".

@MrGawain That's a good point. The President of the company just spoke to the press, too. Get out all the bad news now and then follow it up with a Nintendo Direct in the near future to get people focused on what is coming up.

Sounds like good news to me.

Thank god - retro! We won't see this until at least 2022 but at least it'll. e good. I hope they take all the time they need - I'll be happy with 2023 if it's up to MP1 standards. Now please give us the trilogy in 1080p at 60fps with upgraded visuals.

Brave call by Nintendo but you got to admire them, how many developers would have just carried on and released an inferior product anyway?

Does beg the questions why didn't they give it to Retro in the first place and what have Retro been working on all this time?

Be surprised if we get this before 2023 now but still, what was the Miyamoto quote? "A bad game is bad forever" (something like that)

So how about An-Other M instead, Nintendo, to keep us busy in the meantime.

Rather large screw up. No reason development shouldn't have started with Retro in the first place. Wasted time and money.

I guess the new team didn't do a good job in working with the project or perhaps Nintendo had lose confident in them as they were probably difficult to work with. Either way it's nice to hear that Retro Studio is back on track to working on the Prime games. Still this would mean that the new project Retro Studio themselves is working on will probably either get delay or scrap depending on the situation.

I think we need another article to tell us how disappointed we feel

Love Nintendo but unfortunately this news leaves with me with a grand total of 0 announced switch games im now looking forward to....Nintendo need to pull some big announcements out of the bag asap

@Wesker I thought I was the only one who liked Other M! I hope you're being serious because I'm forever defending it to others.

Trust NL to find a positive out of what is a 100% negative announcement.

Announcing that a new game is on the way, all be it one photo, starts the hype, the build up and anticipation and possible release dates. Then comes the release date push backs, usually by six months at a time.

A game should only be mentioned when it's near completion or finished.

Nintendo should fire Kensuke Tanabe. He caused the fallout between retro and himself, and has now cost Nintendo hundreds of thousands of not millions. And now, the game is going back to retro anyway.
He decided to make the game without retro because of his tantrum and believed he was the reason the series was so good. Turns out it wasn't him at all.

I bet the people at retro are excited to say " I told you so"

Well, this is VERY disappointing, I must say. Guess that means no Metroid Prime for Switch, like so many have already correctly concluded.

But contrary to what a lot of others are saying, this does NOT clarify what Retro have been doing for the last 5+ years, seeing as it was Namco Bandai who were working on Metroid Prime 4, and apparently, Retro Studios haven't done anything tangible, while they were "supposedly", working on some other triple A title, or at least on something big.

A company like that can't just sit on their laurels for well over 5 years. They've got people that need jobs, because they have mouths to feed. You can't just freeze frame a company and then wake them from their winter sleep to go do their jobs again.

Ultimately, this might be the best thing for the game itself, but it does mean a LONG wait, so here's hoping they're going to give us something to soften the blow and tide us over until it arrives...

@antdickens Well, I would suppose that it would be up to NLife's detectives to work their magic and find out exactly what it is that Retro has been doing all these years, now isn't it?

Da fuq!? There's no original Prime staff even left at Retro Studios.

...and to think this was one of the best announcements at E3.

I was like no, no, no ., Then I hear Retro and I'm like ok yes, yes and yes.

Retro working on it is great and all, but several of the key members involved in the original series left the studio many years ago to start Armature. Sorry...just bitter at the moment.

Love the Japanese. This is how its done.

Well my Switch list just got even smaller.

Well they better get Animal Crossing our this year. Ugh.

@Painkiller_Mike this sounds plausible

I may be in the minority but I applaud Nintendo for coming clean and telling us. Of course , it sucks we won't have it this year or next but to actually come out and tell us is a breath of fresh air. I'm sure it was the right decision if they wanted to scrap it entirely. What wouldve been really cool was if he ended it with a prime trilogy release date to appease fans.

I imagine they had their reasons for Retro not working on it. While I was looking forward to playing the game in the near future, I'm not the biggest Metroid fan. So I am not extremely heartbroken. But if their committed to the franchise and this particular series in the franchise, then do what is best for it.

With that being said, I'm gonna assume that in order for Nintendo to confidently do this, they have to be confident in their lineup in the upcoming year to push a major title further away, potentially into its next console. Though it may turn into a Skyward Sword situation and just be the swan song for the Switch

I believe that they had to redo again just because Metroid Prime is FPS type game that only western game studio can handle it, I mean look, there aren't really many japanese games that have a first person views.

inb4 "Nintendo Stream has no games, Switch early adopters were screwed over, name one major first party exclusive Stream has, Metroid Prime 4 was a Switch game before it was a Stream game, it doesn't count! PORT!!"

Seriously though, on one hand this is why you don't announce games so early before they're ready, and on the other hand, Nintendo has really handled Metroid terribly with no entries at all on the WiiU, and this entry was presumed to be a WiiU title first, but given how poor the development standard apparently was, there's no way this game was 5+ years in the making. And meanwhile the whole FF debacle inflamed the fanbase to the point they had to announce this far too early just to prove they hadn't abandoned it. The earlier errors are what makes this whole saga exist.

At this point, I assume the game will indeed be a swan song for the Switch and a joint release with its successor....which is sad to say since we're still on the first half of the lifespan.

Nintendo can make it up to us though. Get Sakamoto to make us a new 2D proper Metroid and all will be forgiven. They can just delete MP4. I'll be good.

This is also interesting because it means Nintendo still holds Retro in high regard if they're expected to salvage the project, which is honestly shocking, given they have had zero output for years. I'd have thought they were the problem, not the cure.

I'm also not sure how well that bodes considering a lot of the MP people at Retro left to found Armature. Technically Nintendo probably ought to be looking at bringing Armature onboard.

One thing is certain. This is going to seriously, seriously hurt Bamco to lose a major Nintendo contract in such a spectacular way. It won't hurt their "quarterlies" but inside, their reputation just took a colossal dive for other contracts.

@Knuckles-Fajita If it was EA, they'd be announcing they're going to release it on March 10th, you'd never hear about it again, it would be a broken scandal on launch day, it would crash constantly, and internally they'd never patch it and let it die, then shut down the studio that made it, same week.

If it were Bethesda, we'd call that "GOTY".

@Knuckles-Fajita And Retro would have been closed as well.

@Ooccoo_Jr I completed Other M 100%. Was her relationship with Adam Malkovich weird? Yes. Were the cut scenes awkward? Yes . Was it dumb the way powers were unlocked for her? Yes. Was it as good as Metroid Prime 3? No way! But it was still a good game in my opinion, and I enjoyed playing it.

I am sorry but what have they been doing so far?

i except the delay and having retro back on the development team is a good thing as well.

Most publishers would have probably just cranked out a sh*tty game and try to to “make up” for it with a next better title. Thanks for saving my money Nintendo.

I can only just imagine the immense pressure the devs at Retro are feeling right now. Must be intense, people are expecting so much now. It’s almost getting to BOTW levels.

So 4 years more to wait then.

WTF. Wooooow. Nintendo life says I need more words but I’m at a loss.

Well... It always better a well made game then a rush game. Been waiting for to long, I can wait a lot more; just keep the indies coming.

Worst. Direct. Ever.

Begs the question, what the f*CK have retro been doing for the past 5 years?

I am glad they are delaying it. Hopefully like with Zelda BOTW delay, we will get Metroid Prime Trilogy HD as a sweetener

@DTfeartheBEARD as long as gyro aim is OPTIONAL i hated the wii version of trilogy cause i hated the motion controls i dont like swinging arms or pointing at my screen when playing games so just make is a option is all i ask for those that want that crap.

@antdickens The last time NL told us you had information you weren't allowed to publish was when you had seen the Switch months before its reveal...

(Conspiracy theories abound!!!)

Dissaspinting news for sure, but I prefer quality games over rushed games. The last thing we need is for Nintendo to pull a Mass Effect Andromeda or a Fallout 76...

On the one hand, yes I am disappointed, on the other hand I am rather with Nintendo. There are already too many games under the sun that needed to meet an abritrary deadline and handing this over to Retro Studios and start fresh, is better than delivering another OTHER M.

Also in unreleated news, this means whatever Retro Studios is working on / has been working on after the Tropical Freeze port is coming, so let's rejoice in that.

@DTfeartheBEARD Hmmmm- Ooh yes. So disappointed. Completely heartbroken. But a Metroid Prime Trilogy Remaster... now THAT would go a long, loooooong way in mending my broken gamer heart.

Hop to it, Ninty!

Everyone saying that this is okay because at least they are working with retro now, that's a joke... How could they have let progress get to such a point that they needed to restart. We have been let down.

It’s a good decision, but still terrible news.

I knew it would be delayed. My guess is 2021-22 release. But I am glad it is being developed by Retro Studios now. Just wish they had let them develop it in the first place!

well I guess they only had to re-do the logo, so not too much work was lost

@uhhhhhhhh

If it’s 2024, it won’t be on the switch.

I’m terribly disappointed. Yes, of course I’d rather have the game be better, but waiting 2-3 years more is a very long wait that basically kills off any excitement and anticipation . Any longer than that and it might not even be on the Switch.

But now I have all the reasons in the world to revisit the franchise. That’s my silver lining.

Yesterday they said they weren't planning a successor to the switch. I assume that didn't mean a revision. Well based on previous development cycles they better start that development unless metroid is going to be the very last game to be released on the current switch.

promising that the game "will stand shoulder to shoulder with the past Metroid Prime series titles".
That's the only thing that matters? 👍

THIS is... kinda refreshing in a way.
It does raise the expectations for what is coming out though.

Retro...ok that's good...but should have started that way. ANOTHER damn nintendo console I bought(this one with a DIRECT promise of a metroid game coming to it, THIS ONE)that will have no Metroid game. I'm done. The switch will be dead before this thing is released. Sorry, this is bad news...no way to spin it! Poor management has pretty much stifled the switch and the momentum it had in my view.

We bought a switch on the promise of new awesome games, and we got ports of the old system instead. I remember when I as a WiiU owner knew when the system really died...it was when it was known that no metroid was coming for the console.

Anybody else hearing Peaches & Herb’s “Reunited” in their head?

@superpotion Hey, it happens with development of just about any project, video games or otherwise.

Sometimes things just dont go the way you want them to, and the ultimate question becomes: "Can we afford to start over or do we keep pushing through and release as is?" Not every company has the luxury to do the former.

The delay itself is definitely a letdown, but the fact that they care about the quality of their product, rather than just trying to appease shareholders and hoping fans will just accept anything put in front of them, is a good thing.

And for Metroid, no less! It's not exactly one of Nintendo's evergreen franchises...

Respect. Honesty. Transparency and integrity. I bloody love this company!

I’ve been pissed with this since the logo reveal. They obviously didn’t know what they were doing even then and shouldn’t have promised it.

Better cancelled than a disappointment though.

Thankfully we have Samus Returns in the meantime.

Please take your time with it, Nintendo. Make it the best darn Metroid game you can! The fans would much rather have a good game later than a rushed bad game.

The only game I actually want atm is Metroid Prime 4 for switch. This is BS tbh. Why even show the game in the first place. The switches game library sucks!

Remaster the original trilogy (Metroid Prime not Star Wars again obviously) to tide people over. And also remaster Metroid: Other M. Yes, I said it. Don't judge me.

Sad news, but better late and good than soon and bad.

This makes a Metroid Prime Trilogy remaster for Switch much more appealing than it already was. I hope they deliver it this year.

Nintendo giving this news and apologizing for it deserves my utmost respect. I can’t imagine EA doing that.

@Yosher Some fans would rather wait for a fantastic game, some fans would would rather moan about it. If Nintendo released a below par game they would moan so you can't win with these people.

@purpleibby As a Wii U owner I can def say that your comment is pure hyperbole there are enough new games on the Switch and on the horizon and Nintendo never came out and cancelled the Switch version for Prime 4. I wager that they are not far into the next generation in terms of development that development of Prime 4 will actually be capable to be for the next generation, so they are probably very much developing with the Switch in mind.

Omg! ... It'll be ages before we get it, but hey Retro Studios is back on!!! ... Please release MPTHD lol

@Mqblank This is sad but true, for some people. But I'm sure even these people will be happy (well, marginally at least) when they get the eventual high-quality product in their hands. Besides it's not a bad thing for them to learn a little patience. It's not like the Switch has a shortage of games for these people to play in the meantime either.

@antdickens That's unfortunate, to be honest. Bit of a political answer, also, but I can't blame you. Got to protect the website, right?

As long as no one is going to try and make me believe that it was that supposedly leaked Star Fox racing game...

Either way, they MUST have been up to something big enough to keep the motor running, ever since they finished their last Donkey Kong Country game, because the period in between that, and now taking over the development of Metroid Prime 4, is simply too long for them to have only done some support jobs or whatever.

Oh well, I do hope that some day, in the not too distant future, there'll come a time when you guys actually will be able to freely speak about what was/is going on there. It always makes for interesting articles.

Oh, and for all you angry people, who are about to kick in the doors at Nintendo HQ with torches and pitchforks raised:

It's never fun to hear a game is coming much later than expected.

But, it was the right choice if it's not meeting the standards of excellence they've set. Nintendo knows how excited people are for this. They want to do it right.

It sucks but... it was the right move.

In one way it's a shame. On the other hand a good decision. It sucks that we have to wait, but I'd rather wait for something good than to get some rushed crap.

Oh... Sorry... Nintendoomed!!!1!

@Lemmy_the_Koopa I'm sorry, but no it is not. I was here on this site at the time, pulling for a struggling WiiU every day like many of us(I still have my WiiU and Wii). Always made sure to BUY the games new to support developers that would release for the system. When we actually learned what was coming(or not coming) in a Metroid game for the system, it really seemed to die off after that. It was the nail in the coffin of an already struggling system. That was the moment I officially stopped buying for that system. I don't see how the Switch gets a Metroid game at this point. It's going to take a few years. You really think the switch has got 3 more years?

Don't worry guys I'm sure Nintendo will announce the Metroid Prime Trilogy for Switch any day now so we could relive the series while we wait for the sequel.

I guess this is the new president taking the reigns.

@ThanosReXXX

Since RETRO helped with MK8 I have been hoping they were working on a new F-ZERO. I can hope...... I also thought it might be STAR FOX: GRAND PRIX if not FZERO

@tangram lol

I wonder what happened? Maybe Sakamoto's vision of Metroid was awful and absurd (as always) and decided to take it from him and get it back to Tanabe and RS? Who knows..It's a shame that the development team of Metroid Prime is not working at Retro anymore.

In any case I was really looking forward to play it this year :/

Maybe is for the best

I can deal with that.I'm glad the original team is doing it

Well, this means we're 3-4 years away in the best case scenario.

What has retro been doing for the last few years?

@Anti-Matter pretty much certain based on what I heard from fans that many would prefer that over another "Metroid: Other M"...

I wish more publishers would actually do this than just rushing a game to get out.

@purpleibby

You really think the switch has got 3 more years?
Yes, it does.

[Drops the Mic]
[Exits stage]

@Devlind depends. Maybe scenario/gameplay would need quite a rework but there's certainly going to be assets from that past iteration which they may be able to recycle.

I kind of expected that though in hindsight. Prime was, like Star Fox Adventures, a segment of a japanese series that was developed by Americans which japanese teams never managed to figure out how to follow up on or what to do with they added to the universe(in Star Fox's case many devs apparently never figured what to even make of Dinosaur Planet or Krystal herself).

In this case the delay may very well be for the best of they are able to get such a cooperation going with Retro studio. Even if members of the original team aren't around there's still a lot of design documents/etc Retro likely still have access to ontop of added insights such as pointers as to why something like prime grabbed such attention in America where other metroid games didn't.

Disappointing that we'll have to wait longer for it, but great to hear that Retro is going to be involved. I'd rather wait for quality. I'll survive.

@WhiteTrashGuy They only helped Nintendo out with porting and optimizing. That doesn't really mean that they are good at making racing games. They might be, but it's definitely not an indication of that.

And like I said: I would hope that it was NOT that rumored Star Fox racing game. It has always been rumored, for many, many years, even before half of Retro Studios left to form Armature, that they were working on a very unique, completely new IP of their very own. It would even have its own, custom Retro Studios game engine.

It was supposed to release on the Wii U, and would also supposedly be so ambitious, that it would max out the Wii U's hardware. Then that got put in the freezer, or scrapped entirely, and all they did from then on, is help Nintendo with Wii U and 3DS projects, but nothing of their own.

The last game they finished, was Donkey Kong Returns Tropical Freeze, and that was in 2014, so we've got a rather HUGE gap for which there is no logical explanation, well at least not with what little we know now.

Oh, well. Maybe NLife will do an article on Retro's mystery game and the 5 years leading up to them taking over development of Metroid Prime 4, somewhere in 2023...

@Paperboy To my knowledge, the problems with Federation Force were less to do with the execution and more so the concept.

@gauthieryannick Retro never touched Other M, they were making DKCR.

Very happy with this decision, especially because it brings Retro Studios on board. Bring it on!

@purpleibby The average lifecycle is five years. The PS2 had ten and the Switch is goind fantastic on the sales department. They won't pull the lifesupport out of the Switch and at the very least this will be a swansong title like Breath of the Wild, but hey, why apply rationality when you can froth with hate.

It’s for the best. Better they course correct than churn out a turkey to be honest. I wouldn’t be surprised if Retro had mountains of metroid material ready to go on standby.
Edit: let me take a wild guess what my YouTube feed is going to be full of tonight. Hmmm 🤔

Might be a launch title for thr next system.

Disappointing, but understandable. Holiday 2022 release at the earliest, then.

That begs the question though: what becomes of that rumored Star Fox GP game or whatever Retro was working on? Is it near completion, or has it also been going through development hell and has now been cancelled, much like Retro's projects prior to Prime 1?

@purpleibby Considering the Switch isn't even 2 years old yet, yeah. At least 3 more years, if not more.

It's sad, but it also shows just how dedicated they are to making this game just as good as the previous Prime games. They really care about this game and they want to make it the best it can possibly be.

I'm happy that Retro is involved now since that should mean quality since their past work was amazing but I'm still pretty annoyed about this news. When Metroid Prime 4 was announced, that's what pushed me to buy a Switch in the first place. I just hope this doesn't push MP4 into the next gen system...please let it be the Switch swan song!

@ThanosReXXX
I figure it's always good they dipped their toes in the racing waters a bit helping out with MK and of course I am that die hard person that every E3 is hoping for something F-ZERO or STAR FOX related. Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part.

I do remember them saying they wanted to work on an original IP around the time of the exodus. Maybe something will be released this year. Maybe RETRO's secret game, POKEMON, and ANIMAL CROSSING will be the big games for Switch next holiday season.

This whole METROID 4 deal reminds me of the N64 version that became PRIME. Maybe PRIME 4 will be a SWITCH2 launch title...

Don't care. Wouldn't mind if another Metroid was never released, TBH.

This sounds similar to what happened when Prime 1 was in development. IIRC it was pretty far along as a 3rd person adventure and Miyamoto stepped in and changed course.

In the end, if it is as good as the original Metroid Prime... I'm there.

I mean, fair play to Nintendo for fessing up. If only other companies did the same, rather than covering it up and putting out a sub-par game...

Also think a Switch Prime Trilogy port is imminent in the face of this delay, to cushion the blow and keep the series in the public consciousness

@WhiteTrashGuy Oh, don't get me wrong: I'm with you completely, where it concerns a new F-Zero. I'm personally still hoping against all hope for some new games in the 1080 and Wave Race series...

To prevent another "Star Fox Zero"? Good decision.

That sucks, but at least they’re being transparent about it. Nintendo has an annoying tendency to keep everything tight lipped, even if it’s at the expense of their customers. Glad to know what’s going on. I wouldn’t be surprised if Prime 4 isn’t released until Switch 2 at this point.

How Nintendo have changed... a couple of years ago they were releasing ultra smash and amiibo festival.

The delay to Metroid prime 4 means one of two things.
Nintendo really want to make a great game, or the build the team had made was really, really, REALLY bad.

I don't like repeating myself, so see here should you ever be interested in me giving my two cents on the whole ordeal for whatever reason.

Sad to hear this news. Perhaps it is for the best now that Retro Studios will work on the Prime franchise.

In the meantime, how about we get the Prime Trilogy ported over to Switch, so we can re-appreciate how much of a good thing it is that they're going to be working with Retro on 4?

As we have seen nothing of the supposed original development, I question if it actually existed, or if it did, how much resources were put into it before it was "scrapped".

It’s sad that it’s gonna be a longer wait I’m thrilled to hear Retro are developing it 😊

I'm fine with this. Nintendo obviously wasnt happy with how things were going, and considering its been a long time since Prime 3, they want to get things right.

Extra props for the quality assurance. In this day and age, one too many big game releases are either broken messes like Fallout 76 or have a bunch of issues like Mass Effect Andromeda.

@ThanosReXXX
I was trying out STEEP with my PS+ last weekend and all I kept thinking was 'I want 1080.' I think RETRO would do an awesome WaveRace. Their water effects in both DK games were very nice. It's really all about the physics with that one.

@WhiteTrashGuy Very true. I've played so many snowboarding and water racing games, and although most of them are fun enough, a lot of them just don't get that feel completely right.

strange we get this news after the patent for 3d/vr is announced.

Glad to see they learned something from Star Fox Zero! Ugh that game should have never seen the light of day.

ts a good sign at least that Nintendo want to do Prime 4 right to do this but a shame we're probably going to look towards a 2021 release date or possibly longer.

I think they'll have to do something to bind the time like maybe a port of either Prime Trilogy and/or Samus Returns to Switch since its gonna be a loooong wait.....

This news is both good and bad, buuuuuut

Animal Crossing official reveal, please?

Fair enough. At least they have the respect to be straight with us about it. But that's the danger of announcing games too early... sometimes things don't go as planned.

@ThanosReXXX yes and he's pumped some trash out in his time!
Star fox zero!

Not sure why everyone is so down with Nintendo on this one. Basically, they announced a game with nothing to show for it and 18 months later they decided to announce that they supposedly scrapped that which was never seen or heard and that they are about to start over.

That is exactly the kind of practice I found so disheartening with Microsoft this gen - Phantom Dust and Scalebound my heart still weeps for thee ... =(

I figured I'll get to play MP4 on the Switch. Something that is at least as much in question now as whether I'll ever get to play a 'proper' mainline No More Heroes 3 on the Switch. In part it's properly my fault for reluctantly buying into the intial excitement, but still ... nobody is going to convince me that the (as we now know, in large part unfounded) excitement was what Nintendo was trying to generate at the time.

I'm okay with the decision to scrap the game, but frankly, I'd rather never have known about any of this. I'd rather have them develop the game, see it's not up to snuff, hand it to Retro, let them have their time and .... THEN announce it, with something to show for it and at least a vague ETA.

What they did here was pretty iffy, and in my view not in any way substantially more honest and decent than what Microsoft or EA are doing on a regular basis.

@BarFooToo Maybe, there is probably a decent chance here. On the other hand, whatever projects they might have been working on, might have also been scrapped. Maybe they spend their time prototyping and supporting other projects. I'd if we don't hear something until E3, the latter is more likely the former

I'm cool with this, disappointed but I know the end result will be better. Nintendo knows that we expect nothing but excellence when it comes to this franchise and they plan to deliver.

Nintendo quality control!
Here's a list of stuff that should have been restarted from the start
Hey pikmin
Paper mario colour splash
Federation force
Star fox zero
Last few mario party's

So with Retros slow and steady track record it's what a 4-5year wait?

Could we get Metroid prime trilogy on Switch while we wait, please?

I am just curious on what they had made so far before scrapping it entirely, perhaps in the future we will see what they scrapped.

I've heard that Metroid isnt as popular in Japan as it is in the west. Any truth to that?

Not everyone buys a Nintendo for Mario. I buy ninty games primarily for Metroid and Zelda from the N......My main reason for buying this console is MP4, Bayo 3, Daemon X Machina(yes, I re purchased Breath of the Wild for the Switch even though I purchased the WiiU version).

Nintendo FINALLY had a nintendo platform that was arguably for everyone, and this hurts that to a degree.

I support this company...as a matter of fact, Nintendo is the ONLY console maker I do support. I buy the games new to support developers, spend money on all the stuff. Spent much time during the WiiU's life cycle supporting that system, standing in line early in the morning before opening gamestop to buy amiibos and merch. I am about as loyal as they come. I've repurchased many games I already own on switch that are in my WiiU game collection.

Pay attention here to nintendo's fan's reactions to the announcement of MP4, and think about how Ninty let them down:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O0HsmmibbQ

Folks, this news today is a real blow. You have to look at it for what it is.....

Couple that with no VC and lackluster online and it's poor retro library support....

Nintendo has to make this right....and it has to be done for the switch. 2 consoles in a row, with the most recent a bait and "switch" for Metroid development. No, it has to be on the switch.

@Yosher there is a news site where someone is attacking everyone. I think my days at that site will sooner or later be over.

Retro should focus only on Donkey Kong Country games! I am very disappointed that Metroid will take their precious time

Delayed until a new updated Switch is released that will be better able to run it.
This seems similar to what Nintendo did for Zelda BOTW during the WiiU days.
My gut feeling is that MP4 will be a launch game for Switch Pro or whatever they will call it.

The longest gap between two Prime games releasing was ~2 years and 9 months during the mid-late 2000s. Echoes was a November 2004 release and Corruption was August 2007. I think it's reasonable to expect Holiday 2021 as Prime 4's release with its first showing at the end of 2021's first Direct. I really don't get some of these release guesses I've been seeing. This is a Metroid Prime game so I expect it to have a Metroid Prime game's development time. 2023 or later is too far out unless there are more development issues.

Once they explained how they planned to develop MP4, it is not surprising that the restart is happening. The surprising part to me is how they thought this would work well in the first place.

I hope they can at least reuse parts of the game, like assets etc. But while this news sucks, I'm now way more excited for the game.

What a huge mistake! Because they did not realize before they were wrong and then from the beginning there must have been in the middle of Retro Studios, I hope that Nintendo will release the Metroid trilogy at a point in HD at least makes the brand known to all ...

@SamusLv7 Huh. What site might that be if I may ask?

I was saddened to hear this. Retro Studios was a powerhouse back in the day, but are a completely different company on every level. That is not to say they cannot make good games, but lack the great leadership and development prowess They had when Metroid Prime was huge. This is why Nintendo has shifted them around and allowed them to Co-Develop right after it nearly collapsed and had to rebuild and let them go on once stable to develop Donkey Kong. This is also why every new game sees a new director.

People are wearing rose-tinted glasses if they are overjoyed by this announcement. It is like announcing a random company making the game and there is a reason why Nintendo chose not to let Retro develop the game from the beginning. That is not to say the game is hopeless, maybe Shigeru Miyamoto will take over once again as producer as he did with the original Metroid Prime. Either way, my expectations have been lowered because as good as you think Retro Studios is, they are not even close to the company that they used to be. Let's be honest a side scroller is much easier to make then a 3D open world Action RPG.

Edit: There is a reason why we have not seen any games or news from Retro Studios. Why haven't we heard about that mystery game they were working on. The company is in dire straits and needs to deliver before Nintendo does shut them down. Hopefully they can get some talent and recover, but Retro Studios has been in trouble since before the last Prime game launched.

@Yosher Its called My Nintendo News. Although there are some good folks there, the site has had some toxic persons for years now and since the site uses WordPress, it is impossible to block anyone.

@SamusLv7 Ah. That website never looked aesthetically pleasing to me anyway. I've had it bookmarked for a long time but I rarely ever visited it because the website looked so unappealing. I guess along with what you said, I have enough reason to just delete the bookmark. People on NintendoLife are generally pretty cool so I'll simply stick around here.~ Thanks!

@Yosher your welcome 👍
I have been less time there since I came to this site because people are really nice here.

@SamusLv7 Ah, I see you joined only recently! Welcome to the NintendoLife family then! Hope you will enjoy your stay! ♪

Well, this ruined my day...

Here's the short explanation: We thought we could do a Metroid Prime ourselves, we messed up, we went to Retro again.

Man, what a waste of time and money. No Prime 4 at E3 2019. No Prime 4 released in 2020 or even 2021. Might take years. May even skip the Switch altogether. We waited all this time, for nothing. This is such a amount of asssss, its off the charts!!

Nintendo better show something substantial at E3 for the 2019 holiday. I wonder what that will be, I have no idea at this point.

@Yosher Thanks 😊

I assume we will never hear who was making it now.
But the most important decisions can be the toughest.
I just hope it doesn't Duke Nukem 3D for a decade.

@graysoncharles Not entirely accurate. Just read an article over at IGN pointing out those who remain and those who are gone. There’s still some leftovers. The author pointed made the point that hopefully, those who remain has taught those who may not have experience with the property enough to get it right. I’m confident after their terrific efforts with Donkey Kong

@purpleibby It’s a company delaying a game. Comes with the territory of being a gamer. It stinks. But that’s just how it goes. I’m sure many of those folks in that video have other games to tide them over til MP4.

I remember how often Ocarina of Time was delayed, and that seemed to work out well.

Hurts every time I replay this video