While we were somewhat hopeful for a Metroid Prime 4 update at Nintendo's E3 Direct this year, instead we got an incredibly brief update early on during the showcase.
The message was delivered by Nintendo's Shinya Takahashi, who said the team at Retro Studios and Nintendo are still hard at work on the next entry:
"Currently, we're working hard on the latest game in the Metroid Prime series, Metroid Prime 4, which we previously announced."
The brief update was due to Nintendo's strong focus on the fifth entry in the original Metroid series, Metroid Dread.
The last major update about Metroid Prime 4 was when Nintendo completely scrapped and restarted development back in 2019 - putting Retro at the helm. Since then, it's mostly been small updates like the one above from Nintendo, and some minor details via recruitment pages.
It's also now been four years since the game was announced.
When do you think we'll see be seeing Metroid Prime 4? Are you excited for the arrival of Metroid Dread this October? Leave a comment down below.
Comments (47)
Hey I can wait a wile longer, Metroid dread looks HYPE AF!
I'm honestly really curious to see the previous iteration of the game (that was supposedly developed by Bandai Namco Singpaore)
I really want to know what was so bad and what crossed Nintendo's quality assurance boundaries so drastically they felt the need to start from scratch after nearly two years of work had been done
I'm at the very least glad Metroid Dread is like 4 months away to hold us over
Alright, idc about Metroid prime 4 now
But Metroid Dread is amazing and looks cool
To be honest I'm more excited for Metroid 5 than I ever was for Prime 4. But I want them to get Prime 4 right too so I hope they take all the time they need.
The year is 2050 riots rage on as Bayonetta 3 and metriod prime 4 are still being developed
Technically it's been 2 years since the game was announced, since everything pre-Jan 2019 was scrapped. I think this is a 2024 game. 5 years, because who knows how fast they even got a team together at Retro to start on it.
They announced Metroid Dread and it comes out in less than 6 months. That more than makes up for the lack of Metroid Prime news.
@Dang69 True. Good shooters take ages to develop. Especially since Nintendo probably doesn't have an engine at the ready for first person games, so they probably had to develop that first or work out a deal with another game developer.
Take all the time you need Retro.
Work harder, I want my Prime 4.
Kidding.
As long as we get Dread to fill the gap I'm happy.
Now about that gap between F Zero, Wave Race and 1080.......
I wasn't expecting Prime 4 to be shown off after only 2 years of restarted development, this game is probably 2023 at the earliest. Metroid Dread is more than fine for the time being.
Now that we have seen Metroid Dread and it's almost completed, we need this game. I hope it will last more than 10 hours and be a console version of Metroid, not a portable which is shorter, like Metroid Fusion.
Metroid Prime 4 is probably 2024 holiday.
So, 5 will be about before 4? shrug personally I’m more looking forward to the 2d adventure.
E3 2022 is when Prime 4 will be shown, but for now Metroid Dread is my most anticipated game.
I'm super excited for Dread, but I crave more Prime. Give me Trilogy HD to hold me over
I wish people would stop hanging onto the "4 years since announcement" bit. It doesn't matter if it was 12 years since announcement - the only thing that matters is that the ENTIRE game was scrapped in 2019, and development restarted.
In my world, realistically accounting for the time it'd take to reallocate resources and plan things out, development started in late February 2019, meaning the game is now a little less than 2.5 years along the road, and probably 2 years away from release minimum.
Meaning we'll see footage somewhere along E3/Fall 2022, and a release Q3/Q4 2023 probably.
I'm surprised in a very good way by Dread. I expected Metroid Prime Trilogy or a Samus Returns port, but instead we get a real sequel. The game looks amazing too, albeit not very original, but I have yet to watch the tree house stuff.
@Nin10dood don’t forget poor old pilotwings!
@KIRO no, the Prime series are something entirely different from the Metroid mainline series.
This Metroid 5 goes after Fusion for GBA.
Metroid Prime could be considered like a spin-off of sorts?
@datamonkey ohhh we really need a new Pilotwings too!!! 😑
Yes I said previously, it’s being handled by Retro which as studios go seem to take the longest to develop any game.
I imagine we won’t see this until 2023/4
Unless you count the pinball game for DS, I haven't bought a Metroid Prime game since the first one because I just couldn't get used to the first-person gameplay so I probably won't get this either but I still want to see what it looks like, preferably before they cancel this one and restart the development again. I would only be 80% surprised if this was never in development to begin with.
No one should have expected Prime 4 to show up when a new 2D Metroid was rumored to be revealed and released this year.
And it's been 2 and a half years since it was REALLY announced😉
Metroid Prime 4 was a "I doubt we're seeing it this E3, but I want to" situation for me. Metroid Dread was an unexpected and very welcome surprise.
I'm thinking about playing through Zero Mission, Return of Samus, Super and Fusion again for the full story experience What I'm wondering is, does this mean Other M has been discarded from canon by Nintendo?? Cos given that Other M falls between Super and Fusion, Dread would be Metroid 6 if it was included. Kinda feels like numbering it "5" was a subtle way of washing their hands of Other M...
My estimation:
2021 - Metroid Dread
2022 - Metroid Prime Trilogy HD
2023 - Metroid Prime 4
It would make sense. Do you really think MP4 was restarted in january 2019? No, it was announced then, but it was probably restarted a few months before. Holiday 2023 is the date, after 5 years of development.
Let’s be realistic about this:
Chances are, this is going to be a 2024 release and, if that’s the case, I see this being released as a next gen title. If the next console releases in ‘23, I’d personally be okay with MP4 being one of the big games released for it. This sort of thing happens all the time, and at least Switch received its own exclusive Metroid.
@Longondo or smoking Pocky and eating Silk Cuts...
How long before we see a screenshot or preview of Metroid Prime 4?
Metroid Dread in October, and Prime 4 to look forward to after that. After the post-Other M drought, it's hard to believe the Switch is getting two Metroid titles. Happy days are here again...
@fafonio thanks for the Intel. I’m a little ashamed I don’t know that ha ha.
@KIRO don’t worry. The way you put it, the whole situation actually could be confusing for someone not totally familiarized with Metroid…. “Why is Metroid 5 coming before 4?”
It was a legit question, so don’t worry.
I'm more excited for Dread than Prime, although Dread's graphic style looks a bit nasty and dated 😬
I tried Prime 1 back in the day. I had dropped out of consoles years earlier so I had a PC and was used to decent graphics. I thought Prime looked and played like crap, so that was that. Back to 2D Metroid for me. But we'll see how 4 turns out.
Prime 4 will come when it comes, until then I'm looking forward to playing Metroid Dread.
Seeing as Metroid Dread had first been hinted at in Metroid Prime 3, and the 2D project had been confirmed to have been abandoned prior to the announcement of Metroid Prime 4, I was wondering if they were going to recycle the name as the subtitle for Prime 4 ('Metroid Prime 4: Dread' wouldn't have been a bad name)... but it was definitely a surprise that they had revived the 2D project.
As far as the development of Prime 4 goes, I'm still a bit dubious as to what exactly has been going on behind the scenes compared to what has been officially announced in regards to Retro Studios involvement. I suspect they've been involved for a lot longer than we've been led to believe, as they'd been hiring people to work on an unannounced game that seemed very similar to Metroid since before Prime 4 was officially announced, and any questions about their involvement in a Prime sequel were carefully worded to avoid giving a straight answer. However, as they were only being put in charge after the restart of development, it's possible that they were only serving a supporting role in the development previously.
Ahhh its ok, with Metroid dread announced, is one hell of a bandit for lack of MP4 news. When you have 2 metroid games incoming and only 1 Zelda and no mario (mainline), you cant complain if you are a Metroid fan!
@the_beaver This seems the most logical. A couple of yearly releases of the Metroid franchise to build up interest for what they are hoping to be their big hitter, Metroid Prime 4.
I just hope that the Prime Trilogy port to Switch tweaks the controls from the Wii version. I want the option to play with the OG lock-on controls from the first and second game. I couldn't stand the pointer controls from Corruption, and I will be very disappointed if the lock-on control type is completely missing from the port.
@Ulysses They have to do another "Skyward Sword" with Metroid Prime 3 if they want to port it over to Switch (and I guess that's what they want, right?). Include the original controls, but also create new ones, more traditional. It would be the only way to play it portable.
That's why I'm thinking they'll probably do the same as with the Zeldas, release them separately (for 40 each, and Corruption probably 60), with quite a lot of work behind, not just some graphical improvements.
I’d imagine a Fall 2023 release would make a lot of sense. It’s the time of year they release Metroid games and relative to BOTW 2 seems to land it at 2023-24.
@the_beaver It's sad to admit, but I'd pay $60 for a Metroid Prime 1 remaster with extra content/perks/options/etc.
This game will definitely have one of the most interesting development cycles of any modern Nintendo game, alongside Metroid Dread of course!
If a new Switch is ready and waiting for the right launch window, that's when you will see Metroid 4.
@Dang69 Whilst I hope for Holiday 2022, you make an infuriating amount of sense. We shall see!
I want a new waverace and f-zero
I am stoked for Metroid prime 4 but also due to the fact that Metroid prime is being remastered with that being said remastered 2 and 3 of Metroid prime looks very promising im very excited for this
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