Metroid Prime 4 Dev Retro Studios Continues Exciting Hire Spree With Call Of Duty: Black Ops Veteran

I`m pretty sure GTA 6 will be released by the time this comes out

A new employee each year? I'll see you in 2034 for the release then.

i assume that this game will be released for whatever comes after Switch, no joke.

This will have as much success as animal crossing, I'm calling it now

Good to hear. It seems that most of these people have experience on FPS games.
However, by the looks of it, it seems that the development is far away from the finish line and I think it will be another year for us to see a trailer of it.
Release date will be in 2023 in my view. By that time, the Switch will be an outdated device (even more than it's now) and, for this game to have a chance, the devs will have to come up with something pretty unique to keep the attention of the players.

EDIT: just checked how long it took from announcement to the release of Zelda.
It took just a bit over 4 years (from 2013 to 2017).
Metroid reboot was announced last January 2019 so 1 and 1/2 year ago.
So my guess is reasonable for 2023 release. Well, that's assuming that the pandemic didn't cause any delays.

If it was a big industry name who oversaw development on a title moving on board, that would be news. Hiring a software engineer who's worked on other games isn't that exciting to me personally, I just see this as something that should be happening to build a new game. Agree with the above, this suggests that the game isn't close to release. 2022 at the earliest.

I love seeing all these people assume that a games company can't hire during development like "whoops, we just got a new guy, time to RESET development everyone!"
no but seriously. For people complaining, this is normal. The only reason this is being reported on more than any other Nintendo game for hires is because Retro is one of Nintendo's few WESTERN studios meaning it's a lot easier to find that information.

Even late development a company can continue to hire more people in order to help out with what we already have. I really wish people would stop making assumptions based on when they've brought a new person onboard. It's really quite obnoxious and while I understand people wanting to hear more about the game, this isn't something to rush when we KNOW that they had to start from fresh when they told us. Games are in development for longer than the public is actually made aware of and this is a rare exception. Thanks to that, people are assuming this thing can be pumped out in just a couple of years, it's absurd.

Had they even started on the game at all, why are they still just hiring? Now is a good time to give us Metroid fans that Metroid Prime Trilogy or at least some sort of Metroid games in-between. Maybe had Intelligent Systems make a Metroid 5 while we wait for Prime 4 or had the smaller team work on remastered Switch ports of Metroid: Samus Return, Metroid Fusion HD remastered, or even a Super Metroid HD remastered, anything really.

@gcunit ...do you expect any company the size of Retro to go a whole year without hiring anyone?

@retro_player_77 Any releases for older games will be 100% on Nintendo, not Retro.
And to answer your question, no they don't sit around doing nothing. I know it's hard to believe but Retro can continue hiring up until even the polishing stages of development. I don't know where people have gotten this unwritten rule from that they aren't allowed to develop a game WHILST they hire more people. It's a really dumb game dev myth that I wish the public would throw away.

@retro_player_77 Right, because Metroid Prime Trilogy is what we need. Can't wait to play Metroid Prime again for the fourth time

Seriously, it has been released on every consecutive system since the Cube.

@link3710 I think having any expectation of Retro is a step too far at this stage.

As someone who has recently been job searching (and finally able to stop! Woohoo!) down here in Austin, yes, there have been posts left and right for Nintendo @ Retro down here.

This game is going to be epic.

@Octane
Not on WiiU, except as a virtual console title

@BrettAwesome So it was released on Wii U then, right?

Well at least the game will probably come out before Beyond a good and Evil 2!

I do not think that we will get this game for the Switch. With the delay and also because of Covid-19 I think this game will come out as a cross-title for the Switch and the brand new Nintendo console.

Will this ever get released, 🤔😂

I think I'll be married and have kids by the time this game comes out.

I'm absolutely loving that more than half the people in these comments are making "this game's never coming out" jokes when it literally only restarted development last year.
Amazing.

I have mixed feelings about this, in one side it's nice to see that Nintendo is getting ambitious with the Metroid series, but I am also afraid that they will make Metroid Prime 4 an FPS. I am more excited for the rumored Metroid 2D than this though...

I'm more than happy to wait til next gen for it. As long as it's coming some day, I'm a happy camper. Doesn't mean that other Metroid titles in between are off the table

@Kyranosaurus Calm down, everyone here's just laughing at the situation. It's not for you to get so uptight about it.

If retro wants to hire me I’m free! I can play the game and give them some ideas! X x x

@MsJubilee I'd like to believe that but there's unfortunately people who are truly ragging on Retro for this. I'm more than happy to see people actually having a laugh otherwise.

Some day we'll even be able to play it

@Kyranosaurus why would they blame Retro? They've been brought in to clear up the mess, if anything Nintendo should have gone to them first

@carlos82 The people I'm talking about are the ones who think Retro are sitting on their backsides because they think hiring a new person to the team means that they still haven't started development. They're basically blaming them saying Retro is unorganised with the whole project but you're right, Nintendo should've gone to Retro in the first place.

So Call of Duty: Metroid Prime Edition for switch ? I cant wait to play this game.

@Kyranosaurus The game has been trapped in development hell, almost definitively intended as a WiiU title that was intended to pair with FF on 3DS (its absence is what made that such a disaster), then moved to a Switch title, then scrapped to restart development because what they had was apparently not going to be good enough, then moving it back to Retro..... and then a year later you see a lot of personnel revolving door going on.... within the studio that most of the people that worked on the earlier games left long ago and formed Armature. That can't bode well for the condition the game is in. We all remember what happened with SF0's development hell.

It's one gaffe away from being sold to Gearbox at this point.

So where is the Prime Trilogy to tide us over?

@ArtiomNLS nah, that's one game that'll come out after MP4.

@JokerCK I think I will go cancel my preorder.

When the first footage is actually released for this game, I am going to cry.

@NEStalgia What you've said would definitely make sense would it not be for the fact that everything you've said is literally pure speculation when we've known about its existence for less than 3 years.
Leave the speculation at home and wait until we actually get a solid update on the project. I'm not denying anything you've said but it's silly to make assumptions based on the fact that not all the original Retro guys are there anymore.

In Tanabe we trust. Spend that money baby.

I hear Covid-19 hasn't affected Retro at all. They've been doing faq all for 5 years, what difference does a lockdown make?

@BlueOcean I was thinking the same thing. Would be the perfect game and IP to showcase a shiny new toy. This game would be what BOTW did for original Switch.

@Kyranosaurus This is a Nintendo fan site. Speculation is all we've got.

But there's "speculation" and then there's "speculation based on all the pieces we know."

Guessing that it was originally a WiiU title may be speculation, but it's educated speculation based on a "tick-tock" release cycle of major franchises Nintendo had at the time between 3DS and WiiU, and the obvious spinoff/side project quality of FF. It's only slightly stretching speculation to make the leap that it was meant to accompany a console Metroid that didn't happen because they were killing WiiU early and moving its projects to "NX".

As for development hell, we know that's true, it's already been scrapped in its existing form and moved to Retro. That's official.

And as for what's going on at Retro, it's more than speculation. We DO know many of the key players we think of as "Retro" left, and many of the upper players are now Armature. We do know from leakers/whistleblowers that Retro had some....turbulence....internally. And we also know that Retro spent years with no output where they were not working on MP4 and the other projects they were associated with were not full projects. We can speculate from there only that they were essentially working on nothing but pinch hitting as fill-ins, or they were working on something that got scrapped/shelved . What we do know is that years with no releases does not make for a studio in it's best operating capacity.

@tourjeff Switch is an outdated device? Is there another handheld in its price range than can run nearly the same caliber games?

Also, I wouldn't compare Zelda and Metroid development cycles. Very different games with very different workloads. Plus Zelda was pushed back to line up with the Switch's launch; there's every possibility it could have released sooner.

@mushpototo Ooh. What rumored 2D Metroid?

@NEStalgia All this chatter about development hell flares up my PTSD of the saga of Aliens Colonial Marines

@RustedHero That's right, this game would benefit from better hardware.

I’m just confused with what they have been doing since 2014? That’s 6 years with no releases?

@gcunit i still think late 2021 s a possibility for prime 4 with this many talent their bringing in i wouldnt be surprise they ll get it done in that time frame.

@GameOtaku im pretty sure prime trilogy for switch is alrdy done just wen we get closer to wen they reveal more info on prime 4 and release they ll probably release the trilogy to tie us over till then.

@RustedHero Retro is hiring after Borderlands releases on switch. Coincidence? I think not!

@retro_player_77 yes its in development they wouldnt be sitting and doing nothing if its not so its in good hands man.

@ArtiomNLS ha that was a funny joke

Nice, CoD has always been about control, speed and ease of use. I like that for MP4

Metroid Prime 1 is one of the best games of all time.
Metroid Prime 2 is great too. But not in the same level.
Metroid Prime 3 in my opinion is better than the second, but not achieved the excellence of the first one.
I have great hopes for the Switch version!

Why is nobody talking about the fact that someone who worked on Super Lucky's Tale is also working with people from Borderlands, "Computer Fryer" Crysis, and Call of Duty lol

@TeslaChippie the Switch is outdated, it has, for instance, a chipset released in 2015, heck, the new Tegra has been available for a while already and is not the most powerful on the market.
You are getting confused with the Switch being unique on the market with it's specs capabilities.
Being unique doesn't mean it's the best on what it does all the time.
In regards to the time frame, I do hope I'm wrong on my guess as I'd like to play it sooner rather than later.

I think that this will be a launch title for Nintendo's next system, let's say the "Nintendo Shawty", and also release same day on Switch, kinda like BOTW.

@tourjeff Calling the Switch "Outdated" is like calling an older smartphone "useless". Yes, it might be underpowered compared to it's successors and competitors, but there are still people who can use it no problem.

If anything, the Switch is underpowered, and even then, their last handheld, the 3ds, could barely play GameCube/PS2-Era Games, yet the Switch can play most PS3/Xbox-360 Games no problem AND can run PS4/Xbox-One Games with some downgrading.

@Mrnotultra It's most powerful hybrid gaming device on the planet.

@mesome713 exactly my point, just because it's not as powerful as the PS4 or Xbox One doesn't make it Outdated.

Still hoping they roll with something new instead of the number four and more phazon.

@Mrnotultra Outdated and Useless have different meanings.
Useless is a word that I didn't use so your comment is incorrect.
Honestly I don't get why people get so upset about it.
This is just a fact.
Regardless that fact the Switch is my only gaming device and I'm happy with it but I'm not going to sugar coat its reality.

@mesome713 it's the only one 😁

This is going to be a launch window title for the next switch isnt it?

@gcunit
Retro Studios is headquartered in Texas, which is currently one of the states experiencing a massively spike in Covid cases. As a result, the governor of Texas recently had to reimplement lockdowns after loosening the lockdown restrictions just weeks prior.

Retro is probably the Nintendo studio that is most negatively impacted by Covid. All of Nintendo's other studios and close partners are located in regions that haven't been nearly as impacted by the virus (i.e. Japan, Germany, Washington, Canada).

@Tempestryke it's just a rumor that has been around since January, but that Paper Mario was true so who knows Check this out: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/01/rumour_prolific_leaker_says_well_get_paper_mario_and_a_2d_metroid_this_year

At this rate we won't be seeing this game until another switch hardware drops(gen).

Things are looking pretty good. While there's no guarantee, I think this game will turn out great if not the greatest Metroid Prime ever.

@Tempestryke acording to Eurogamer and some Leakers is a sequel of Metroid Fusion developed by Mercury Steam.

@Giancarlothomaz

That would be something.

@tourjeff
1. The Sega Nomad can technically count as a hybrid console
2. I know that comparing the Switch to an outdated smartphone isn't the best idea, but the Switch isn't outdated, it came out 3 years ago, and while yes, it's weaker than the competition, but not everyone NEEDS high quality graphics or fast loading speeds. Calling the Switch underpowered is one thing, because it's true, but calling the Switch Outdated is a weird thing to say. So the PS4 is 7 years old and the next gen is around the corner, does that make it outdated? No. The latest consoles I would call outdated is the 3ds, Wii U, Vita, and Wii and DS. And that's only because those consoles got replaced by better ones or are over a decade old. And the PS3 and 360 still have games that aren't on other consoles, so they're not completely outdated yet. Come back to me in 6 years and I might change my mind.

I have to admit, even knowing that it restarted development just last year, giving us a morsel of info on it would be nice.

@Octane as it should be

@Giancarlothomaz I really hope be it. And the chances of be true are big. We, metroid fans will be really happy.

At this point we will celebrate if they get a new pet in the studio

@Bl4ckb100d There's no way that Metroid will match the success of Animal Crossing. That's not a slam against Metroid, but Animal Crossing has mass appeal across most demographics, where Metroid is popular in a more specific slice of the gaming world.

@TheFox ever since prime 4 was announce it shook the gaming world big time.

The timespan between the release of Metroid Prime (2002) and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004) was 2 years, and then another 3 years of development time for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007).
Retro Studios isn't slow when it develops epic Metroid Prime games. I don't think we have to wait very long, 2021 if everything runs smooth.

This is exciting. Seeing MP4 get this kind of star power for developers makes me happy.

@Octane I want to play it again.

samus;
"Master chief, you take out all these bosses, after the group of terrorists clear the area. Guys don't worry if you find any trouble, you have backup from cranky, diddy, candy, and donkey kong, forget the surf ape. be sure to bring bananas with you, use them to distract enemy as they seem eatible to them.

Meanwhile i drink coffee in my spaceship, but if have the time(don't expect) , i will do the rolling and puzzling stuff that does not make any sense.

Succes!!

P.s happy 2023 if you make it

@tourjeff the development was scrapped and started again so maybe 2024 by this reasoning? Personally, I don't think there is any way to tell. They might be using a spruced up MP3 engine or something else they already had, they might be using the old discarded designs for MP2, there are lots of ways they could speed things up. This might also be procedural like No Mans Sky, which would save time, or a gigantic bespoke, open world, which would secure the games place on the next console generation.

If Nintendo can't make games quick enough, they should release their good back catalogue. From metroid, I don't only want Trilogy, I want an updated Other M, an updated Federation force, Samus Returns too. Outside of Metroid, I want N64 online, the Zelda games like Windwaker. They should churn this out, because at the moment it is just animal crossing for the whole summer and some people do not like cutesy Sims and grind.

I believe that MP4 was only announced to give Samus Returns a fighting chance. The backlash against Federation Force was mostly because people wanted MP4 and FF wasn't it. I think, at the time of announcement, they had Photoshopped a 4 onto the metroid prime logo and nothing else. It was more a statement of intent. The 'restarting development' was merely a rejection of early concepts from a third party, but a way of managing fan expectations. MP4 will either bridge the generations or will be on the next gen. It will probably be a very late release in the consoles lifecycle, a bit like Samus Returns and other Metroid games. This is unsubstantiated and wild speculation on my part by the way.

Yawn...Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I am a huge Metroid fan, but this is just really boring now. Must of been five or six years ago now it was originally touted for wiiu.

Please, please do not make this a generic FPS like CoD

@CupidStunt Nintendo are still overseeing it. So I doubt it will be generic lol. (Full clarity, it could be rubbish, but not generic.)

Is it a bad sign when I have to factor in my own mortality while waiting for the next Metroid game?

You know it's bad when the most exciting news for a game in development is what pedigree of employees are joining the developer. I don't think it will be vaporware, but at this rate without even a glimpse of the game footage, this game is shaping up to be the swansong game for Switch.