Metroid Prime 4 Developer Hires DreamWorks Talent As A Lighting Artist

MP4 will be out on Switch 4, at this rate. /s

Oh man this game is going to be great. And here comes the WERE IS METROID PRIME 4 comments.

But really I'm so happy this is going to be my first prime game.

@Snatcher Woah, you should really play the original trilogy. I guess they might port them to Switch but a Wii U goes for pretty cheap now and you’d gain access to the amazing Virtual Console on there.

I dont really care about this game anymore. (Find when games get announced far too early and then get set back, i lose interest)
I still enjoy metroid prime trilogy on my wiiu though, and thats all that matters to me

@Snatcher I mean, it would be a fair question, plus it’s related to the article. But yeah, might wanna play at least one of the games in the trilogy before mocking us all!

@TruthisRare But they reset the game, so its not about it was to early, the game was going to come out but they didn't like how the game turned out so they reset Production. I know people get mad about this but they just want to make a good game.

@BloodNinja It just other comments I have been to have all said the same thing LOL, but It does look like I can be wrong this time,
I do sure hope they port the games so I can play them.

I know it isn’t wise for a company to reveal too much internal project info, but at least there is evidence to suggest the project is progressing.

Can’t wait for this to release Summer 2025!

Jokes aside, I’m looking forward to this, I’m glad they’re taking time to get it right instead of rushing out a bad game. Hopefully they port the trilogy so people have the option to experience all of them.

@Snatcher Dude. Me too. The first one is really solid so I would be happy with that. The second two follow the first way too closely, so they don’t feel as impactful and are a little dull as a result.

@BloodNinja hopefully they do or else I will have to find another way to Know the story.

@BloodNinja The second one’s my favourite! Granted, it’s the one I played most as a kid so it’s absolutely nostalgia based.

This is actually quite nice, knowing Nintendo is open to hire talented people from other studios. It seems they are really putting a lot into this project despite it not being the most popular series in Japan.

@Snatcher Years ago I predicted that maybe they didn't have anything at the moment and that they just showed the "Metroid Prime 4" title to see if it was worth doing something to begin with. It's funny how "they had to start over again" when there's not even concept art out there.

Personally, I don't mind waiting as I'm used to it since I've been a fan of the series since the 90s and it has never been that popular to begin with, but you have to admit that it's kinda crappy to just measure the hype by doing that. Even if they actually had something and started again, they ignore Samus so much that at least they could have given anything else during the wait.

I do have to say that Metroid fans aren't of any help though. Considering the treatment they gave to Federation Force, which regardless of the art style is a sweet spin-off that could have helped expand the Metroid series I do see why they would be reluctant to do anything else from a business perspective.

Still, I do believe it's justified to ask for a game that was mentioned so long ago. It shows that people still wait and care and it's expected. Sorry for the long comment.

@BloodNinja

If you're still talking about Prime trilogy, hard disagree from me. The first was amazing, the second deviated enough to feel unique, and third went too far the wrong way for me. I loved the atmosphere of Aether the most, but Prime 1 had the best suits, blasters and visors. Prime 2 light suit was sexy for sure, and the echo visor was sick, the ammo system kinda sucked. And prime 3 had the worst suit but a fun overdrive mode.

THEY PULLING IN LITERALLY EVERYONE, WHAT'S NEXT, WALT DISNEY IS REVIVED FROM THE GRAVE?

there are 2 possibilities:

1. this game will be an absolute mess which will be mocked for years to come for how bad it was despite completely restarting development and hiring the best in the industry

2. this game will be one of the best fps games ever made that will develop similar popularity to half life

it really feels like nintendo is betting A LOT on this game

I don't care for Metroid in the slightest, so I always find these stories extremely entertaining. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be hitting up the Fire Emblem subreddit to discuss what kind of game is very likely to be revealed later on this year 😏😏😌

@roy130390 Ok Ok I can agree with that, I mean all this is coming from some won who was never played a prim game so I can see were your coming from.

At this rate the game will never live up to any expectations. I also wouldn't doubt it releases closer to the end of whatever replaces the current switch.

I keep putting off 2 and 3 even though I own Trilogy on Wii hoping that 1) it will be re-released on Switch and 2) it will be upgraded in some way from the Wii version. If they show us 4, and Trilogy is still not announced for Switch, I'll start up 2 on Wii.

It's amazing to me that, given how reluctant Nintendo has been with Metroid over the years and how little the games have sold (when compared with other Nintendo franchises) this high profile hirings seems so out of place. It's so weird how Nintendo operates sometimes 🤷

@EriXz There's absolutely nothing suggesting any of these hirings are for MP4, and not for Retro building a second team for another game to be in the pipeline. They've hired enough people to be making two games at once after all.

@Wavey84 yeah it will be a launch title for nintendo's next console.

but I still think it could come to switch. Just maybe the last 1st party game for the switch.

Also why are we not getting like Metroid Prime Trilogy remastered or something. Give us some Metroid games to hold us over, Nintendo!!!!

@Slowdive You’re partially right, but in the world of animation, and to a lesser extent games, lighting artists are closer to the end of the pipeline. I’m not inferring the game is coming soon, but they likely wouldn’t have recently hired an expensive lighting artist unless they have a fair amount of environments and models to light.

I’m still in possession of my steelbook edition of the Trilogy for my Wii plus the original releases. Love the games and would happily buy them again if they released them for Switch. I’m of the mindset that the fourth will not be releasing on the Switch though.

@link3710 the headline on this very article says so, and I'm sure some of the others too, just saying

Does that mean Samus will do the raised eyebrow face?

@EriXz And the headline is wrong. If you read the article, there's 0 evidence of what game these positions are for, it's a bold assumption.

I am looking forward to this game. I do think it will be out no sooner than 2024. Probably later. It may be released on two consoles like Botw. I still think that Prime Trilogy is not released yet because it will have a special feature or hardware utilisation from prime 4, and they want to sell it 6 months or so before prime 4, to help build the hype. Wild speculation based on nothing.

@link3710
While that may be true, I think it’s a reasonably safe bet to assume it’s for Metroid Prime 4. That’s their big game in the oven right now, and they’ve been hiring like crazy lately- in each case, it was for MP4. I can’t imagine new hires #1-14 were all for MP4 and then new hire #15 is not.

Nonetheless, if it is an assumption it should be stated as such. Either way, they’ve hired crazy talent for MP4. I’m glad to see the respect it’s being given.

Lol, some comments 🤣🤣🤣🤣

"I dont care anymore"

Suddenly Nintendo; Lets prepare a sneakpeak trailer for them.

(People) o yesss Nintendo we love you!! 🤣🤣

@PBandSmelly might want to leave him in there.

Metroid Prime 4 sounds like the biggest Nintendo game that has yet to come, even bigger than the sequel to Breath of the Wild and Bayonetta 3. After seeing countless articles about all these different developers being hired, I really have to set my expectations high for this game.

@link3710 article it's wrong just because you say so, got it...👍🏻

@SpaceKaren Come on, you can be more pessimistic than that surely?

Come on Nintendo, we’re not getting any younger 🤨

Cannot wait for Metroid Prime 4 in 2025!

I'd say it's probably closer to completion than generally thought.

@Slowdive Do you really think so? I would love to believe that....

Just over two years have passed since Takahashi-san's update/apology video. I have somehow always assumed that Nintendo wants to make this one a showpiece or signature title, as Metroid Prime 1 proved to be. And that would imply some significant innovation, which is always time-consuming. And I always found the idea that they were taking their time to be reassuring... unless the game really is stuck in development hell.

That said, you could be quite right.

At this stage I am just assuming it's going to be a cross generation game like BOTW was.

I have two theories on this:

1 - MP4 is a ways away, and we are looking at a late 2022 reveal for an early 2023 release.

2 - Retro had something cooking behind closed doors (as has long been rumoured), and Nintendo ordered them to rework it into MP4 instead.

That last one's a long shot, I know.

It’s important to have a lighting specialist to make everything gleam and sparkle. No sparkles = no sale for me.

In space nobody can hear you scream. But they can at least see you twinkle like a little star, and that’s what matters.

Go forth, lighting guy! Burnish this game to a fine sheen! Make it the sparkliest Metroid anyone has ever even seen!

I’m guessing it’s still at the concept art stage.

The trilogy on switch would be amazing, disappointed this hasn't happened yet with so many rumours. It's a no brainer at this point as MP4 is clearly 2022 at the earliest!

My aging Amazon pre-order places it at New Year's Eve 2022, so I'll guess Christmas of 2057. Bayonneta 3 set to drop the same day.

Holy ***** whats the budget for this game??

Cutscenes confirmed!

Hoping it's as good as the best Prime game if not better! Best being Prime 2: Echoes of course. I can't wait to immerse myself in the Metroid universe once more.
If we're lucky we might get news this year at the earliest but I'm guessing we have a better chance next year, which I am completely fine with.

@nessisonett The virtual console closed down two years ago.

Really hope that MP4 kills it

@Darkred401,

This has been typically one of Nintendo's poorer selling franchises, and it's pretty much a cult following at this point, of course with the Switch's awesome software to console ratio it has the potential to be the best selling game in the series.

I think it's as they have stated, they gave the project to Bandai and were unhappy with development, than sourced it to Rare who some will argue should have been developing the game from the start, but of course fail to realize that most of the talent who worked on the original three games have moved on long ago, so they needed to pretty much assemble a whole new team to work on the game.

@WiltonRoots,

They could be a little bit more negative about the game, but not by much.

@Darkred401
3. It’ll be good but ignored, like every Metroid game before it.
Then people will continue to ask “why doesn’t Nintendo do more with Metroid?”

I wonder why the original pic for this post (Zero Suit Samus) was switched out...🤔

@YANDMAN On Wii. The Wii U eShop still works.

@JaxonH My point is that as far as I remember, none of these 15 listings have specified that they're for Metroid Prime 4, not just this one lol. People are assuming it's an MP4 hiring spree and not a make a new team hiring spree.

I could be wrong but with the amount of talent Nintendo keep hiring for Metroid. It seems a lot of resources for a switch game. Im wondering if there is a new system in the works, and not a switch pro. Either that or the switch pro will be packing some serious grunt.

@EriXz No, its an inaccurate headline because it involves making assumptions. Read the article, that's correct.

@roy130390 So true. Metroid has the worst fan base in gaming.

I have to sort of block out all news of Retro hires.
It just makes me more and more worried that they're damage controlling or turd polishing.

@johnvboy i think what happened was after botw's massive success, nintendo's expectations for metroid prime increased a lot, they probably wanted to reset development in hopes that they could make prime 4 the botw of the fps genre

i think even if what bandai made was on par with the previous prime games nintendo would still have reset development

@Darkred401,

Without a doubt, hoping for something special and perhaps a little teaser at this years E3 event.

Hopefully they had a trailer for us during this year's digital E3.

@link3710 yes, my point entirely, even if no one knows what is this guy working on: how many studios work in 2 different AAA games at the same time?
I mean, I understand were you're coming from, still, the writing is on the wall

@EriXz At Nintendo alone? Nintendo EPD usually has 4+. Intelligent Systems usually has 2. Monolith Soft had 2, but with recent expansions is probably around 3+ (keep in mind, both a Xenoblade, the medieval ARPG, and help on BotW2 and likely Splatoon 3 are happening). Next Level Games recently confirmed they are moving to have 2+ in the work at any given time. GameFreak always has 2+.

The only Nintendo developers not confirmed for multiple AAA titles at once (that do any, so no 1-Up Studios, Camelot, NDCube etc) are HAL and Retro (and formerly Good-Feel, they're self-publishing now though). So Retro expanding to 2 teams would just join everyone else in doing so.

It bothers me that it keeps being referred to "Metroid Prime 4". It was a Metroid Prime Trilogy, so 4 doesn't make sense since that would break it. Metroid Prime was just the name of the game, so why not just say new 3D Metroid game? It's not like we say "I hope there's a new super mario bros. 14 coming out!" or "maybe a new Zelda Windwaker 4". It only works with Mario party, Splatoon, Mariokart, and Pikmin (and maybe Battalion Wars someday).

I have never seen a game get this many articles dedicated towards hirings.

@nessisonett The actual virtual console was strictly Wii, so when you say that, that's what i associate it with.

@link3710 thank you. my point exactly, retro work at one title at the time so I'm sure you can do the math...

@EriXz Unless they're building a new team. It's not like they didn't recently hire enough people to form a new one, all at once...

@link3710 fair enough but now, you're doing the same thing that start all your rambling: making an assumption...

@EriXz No, I am stating a possibility. Im not saying they're NOT working on Metroid Prime 4, just that the headline is misleading as there's undeniable evidence of other possibilities.

@johnvboy Nah I don't think the dude's trying, I reckon he can be much more negative than that. I demand more misery!

With all this talent Retro has been adding, why not just create an animated Metroid show for Netflix and tie it into the Metroid Prime 4 game.

At this point I just want a Metroid Prime Trilogy for the switch. This year should be the year being the anniversary and all, but I'm not holding my breath.

@WiltonRoots,

Hang around on the comment section, there is bound to be more negativity.

@johnvboy I love it. So many things to get mad over in life yet people seethe over a form of entertainment. The human race eh? 😂

This is my most anticipated game for Switch, would love to see a metroid with 4k raytracing running at 120 fps!

Unfortunately it's on Switch so I definitely won't get my hopes up as it's more likely going to be 720p and 30fps judging by recent AAA releases like Crash 4 and MHRise

@Mr-Fuggles777,

I think the ray tracing will be a little far fetched, but as long as the art design is spot on it will look fine, I remember Metroid Prime 3 looking pretty good for the Wii's hardware.

@johnvboy 4k and 120 fps were also far fetched lol. We can dream

I remember being blown away with the graphics on the first Prime coming from the 2D games, this won't be as much as a step up due to the hardware. As long as it looks as good as Rise It should be alright, just won't be anything genre defining.

@Mr-Fuggles777,

I am hoping for some great art direction that may lift this beyond it's hardware.

@link3710 🤦🤦🤦🤦

@EriXz I don't see what's so confusing about the facts that "We don't know whether or not they're a developer for Metroid Prime 4" contradicts the headline stating they definitively are.

Very pleasurable people you guys have in your comments section. They are taking the news in such a respectful manner! /s

Edit: Actually, after actually scrolling through and reading all the comments, most people here are in fact reacting respectfully. There's only a handful of comments that are not. I apologize for my kneejerk reaction.