Metroid Prime 4 Dev Retro Studios Is Advertising Job Openings On ArtStation

Now they could call this game, Metroid Prime 4Ever, the Duke Nukem Forever of the Metroid Prime game cause it doesn't look like the game will see the light of day any time soon especially if they're still just hiring for more people at the moment.

This whole situation is just really funny

Metroid Prime 4 won't release until they've acquired a staff team of over 1,000 people. Get ready to sit through the longest unskippable credits you've ever seen in your life.

Ok, is this normal protocol to be just now hiring these kinds of positions? Is it just me or does this Seem like this is the most dragged out process ever?

@SaturnHero
Companies are always hiring, not just before the development of a game begins.

Prime 4 is the zelda botw of this gen. Announced at the beginning of the switch and will arrive towards the end.

Things are shaping up, then. Retro may have finally solidified the concepts they wanted and now they need artists to flesh those ideas out.

Due to the banner update on Twitter, I'm expecting to see Prime 4 footage this year (likely around when E3 would've been in June) and be playing the game next year. It'll be one of 2023's big hitters from Nintendo.

I don‘t know why everyone thinks this game will never come out. If they really scrapped everything they had it‘s going to be at least five years in development. I‘m guessing it’s going to release somewhere around November 2024.

I‘m wondering how surprised or shocked some people are. I recommend reading Jason Schreyer‘s books „Blood, Sweat and Pixels“ and „Press Reset“ as it shines light into these absolutely horrifying development procedures. By now we all know this project is a troubled one but no one knows whats troubling. Can be everything. I for my part have absolutely enough stuff to play for a long while to let them folks at Retro Studios do their best.

Okay, one of you needs to take this job and then come back here to report your findings to the board. We need to know why they're taking so long.

People need to realize that just because they have positions open for these jobs, doesn't mean that work isn't getting done. It just means that some unfortunate employees are currently doing extra jobs or they are being hired to lighten the workload of a collective.

I’ll be a totally different person with a whole new set of responsibilities when this releases. I’m glad to know it’s coming but wow we have a long time to wait.
This is the price we pay for that “Nintendo Quality” though! It’s unparalleled so I’ll gladly wait for this highly polished game.

Can’t wait to play this game in 2068 while enjoying a BBQ!

They should skip Prime 4. Instead they should release 5, then 7, 11, 13, 17, and 19.

Seriously, how far behind they are in the development of this game? Of course, one would argue that they would release the Prime trilogy as an appetizer of the next franchise game, but of course, they won't.

By now, I'd say it won't be released on this current Nintendo Switch.
More likely to the next generation like MK9.

This is interesting but I wouldn’t say with 100% certainty that they are even hiring for Metroid prime 4. I’ve applied for jobs in a similar industry, and they put banners up of their most anticipated work or most accomplished but that doesn’t mean it’s for that. I mean it’s highly likely 😂

Apologies in advance - but honestly.. I hope it skips the Switch. Prime was a technical marvel. I hope the next iteration will also be a tech marvel.

How many times have they had a job opening now for this game?

How people have concluded that the game is in development hell exactly? It was when bandai was in charge of it, but we don't know anything about it since retro took over. Did people think that they would be able to make a new AAA game from scratch in 2-3 years?

Companies hire new people all the time. Either people are leaving and getting replaced or they are just scaling up, which is a great sign, meaning they are past the parts that cannot scale up.

Look at other companies like rocksteady. They are releasing suicide squad this year and they have tens of job openings, most of them high ranking jobs as well. We know that MP4 is not releasing this year.

Man, some of you sound like you just got in to video games. I'm not even expecting it to be shown this year. I'll be disappointed (but not anxious) if it's not shown next and concerned if it's not shown the year after.

If it IS shown this year, then I would be worried with the amount of time it's taken.

But come on. They changed their banner on Twitter and folk carry on like we just seen a trailer!

I love all the game production experts in the comments! The pic looks awesome and atmospheric and clearly it's coming along nicely. The team will obviously already have artists on it so jumping to bizarre conclusions because a company is hiring isn't really very logical. Calm down peeps, we'll get our game when it's good n' ready!

@GrailUK Totally! Would rather wait til next year if it means the game is a groundbreaking classic that sells by the bucketload or just mediocre and rushed out.

@MrYuzhai
I'd even say the same about a remaster/remake to be honest. Prime deserves to be cutting edge graphically.

At this point I expect the game to be a bit of a mess given the restart in development, MP3s lackluster design, and the constant hiring of positions. At least we got Dread, lads.

Will they actually get credited for their work, or will this be another Metroid Dread situation?

You know, for people who are so into videogames, that they check constantly and go as far as commenting on a site called nintendolife, most users here don’t seem to have a good grasp in real life, like this game started from scratch sometime in 2019, we’ve just begun 2022, how can someone expect a game made from scratch of this scope, to be done and boxed ready for sale? Its like why you buy Nintendo systems instead of just laying fifa and uncharted 1000, the good thing about nintendo, and why their AAA games are better than everybody elses, its because they make good games new ideas, and everything in house, its not running on any third party engine, the idea that a whole team could finish a product like this in under three years, is just not having a clue of how hard and amazing it is the work that goes into making something like, super mario odyssey or breath of the wild, and prime 4 will be the same standard, it will come out when its done, as it should… probably will come out on both the switch and the new switch pro or something like breath of the wild, launching simultaneously on wii u and switch

Monolith Software has been hiring non-stop since 2017 and they doubled in size. I guess Xenoblade 3 is in dev hell and is probably releasing in 2025 at the earliest.

@RennanNT apples and oranges - they’ve grown in size by huge numbers because they’re now the go-to studio that helps out on pretty much every Nintendo game in development

Is it possible that MP4 will be open-world? I know it will be bizarre choice for a survival atmospheric action adventure but maybe that's why they need so many people.

@MrYuzhai The Kyoto studio which is the one dedicated to help many Nintendo games barely grew since 2017 and is currently just over 30 employees (from 25 or so in 2017). The Tokyo studios which are working on Xenoblade 3 and BotW 2 were the one really hiring and went from 100 to over 200 employees. Source: https://famiboards.com/threads/monolith-soft-development-and-speculation-st.51/

Even if it wasn't, it's ridiculous how every time they want to hire, we get the same "it restarted development". Companies do not need to wait a project transition to hire, they need replacement for retiring employees, they might scale up, they might start a new project in parallel, etc.

"We only hire people before a project begins or during project transitions" had got to be one of dumbest workplace/business myths ever, but I keep reading it under the comments section of every single one of these job posting articles.

Is there any indication how far along in development this is based on jobs they're hiring for? Like would this be something they look to hire nearer the end??

Slow news day.
Metroid 4 isn’t out yet because Metroid hasn’t been a priority for Nintendo for a long time (not even taking the recent delay of totally starting over). Why spend a huge budget developing a game like Metroid when 2014’s WiiU’s Mario Kart is still a top 10 game. While we love Metroid, other franchises sell more.

They were forced to announce Metroid Prime 4 early, because Samus Returns was releasing on the 3DS after the Switch had launched. Normally, they wouldn’t announce games so early.

Plus, early on, they restarted the efforts after bringing Retro Studios on board.

They are trying to live up to expectations. These things take time to develop and test.

@Specter_of-the_OLED I think this just confirms my opinion that Metroid Prime 4 is going to be a cross platform release that is created primarily as a launch title for the Switch successor. It would demonstrate the new consoles improved power and capabilities (4K as well), while the current Switch gets a watered-down port, that would still be impressive, just watered-down.

Think of it this way, if we get Prime 4 late in the Switch lifecycle, we most likely wont get another Prime on the new console. Nintendo would surely like the benefits of releasing on both consoles.

Essentially, this is a win-win situation;
The new Switch gets a Metroid that benefits from a more powerful console. Aside from MP4 surely being a great offering for a launch title, it will also benefit from the marketing that comes with the launch of a new console (like they did with Dread and OLED Switch but even bigger).

The current Switch port version of MP4, would allow Nintendo to cater to the millions of existing gamers who are already on Switch, including those who have waited so long for it.

So essentially, enjoy it on (current) Switch or enjoy it on the new console with improved graphics/capabilities.

@Arisen Yessss, thisss! and those who get it on the new console will enjoy improved graphics/capabilities. It's a no brainer win-win situation

@Specter_of-the_OLED Says someone that has never worked on a video game and thinks companies only hire people when a project begins or something. You have no idea what you are talking about.

Sob…sob….they’ve started it again????!!!?!!?

Am I doing it right? 😄

@Duffman92 I'm thinking November 2023.

Patience folks patience! It will come around soon enough it takes time to make games.

It has only been in development for three years, since they restarted and people pretend like it's been a decade.

@MrYuzhai You won't get a technical marvel on the next Switch either, it won't be nearly as powerful as the PS5 or Xbox Series.

Am I the ONLY person who wants:
1: the real reason Prime 4 was scrapped?
2: to see the dead version of Prime 4?

@BTB20
Well, the game has been being worked on for at least five years. Just because it was started over, doesn't mean it you only count the restart time.

@Baker1000 In terms of artists I think they would need more concept artists near the start and these other artists later on.

@Spider-Kev Yes you do only count the restart time. It was restarted from scratch, everything before that is disregarded. Development takes usually 4-5 years, maybe more. It's been three years now, it'll release in 2023 or 2024. What Bandai did before 2019 doesn't matter anymore.

If it wasn't for Dread, maybe I would be antsy. But I got my Metroid fill for now, and will patiently wait.

I feel like people are being way too dramatic about this... You look at a picture and automatically assume the worst. What you see as a setback, could actually be they are replacing people that moved on. Maybe they are expanding because the project got bigger in scope. Maybe they just need extra pairs of hands to help touch up some things. Maybe it's for a new game. Who knows. Relax.

I read Martial Artist instead of Material Artist and was severely disappointed when I went back to read it again. I guess Nintendo needs to protect Metroid Prime 4 even more then I thought.

@Arisen
Kind of, yeah. The only difference is that Nintendo officially released a full-blown announcement about Prime 4 in 2017, whereas with BotW they simply mentioned it in 2011 before making a full announcement and teaser in 2014.

Wouldn't art be closer to the end of development?

@JeanPaul nintendo alrdy stated prime 4 development is going well so people need to have patience and besides its normal for studios to hire more hands to get the game done on time

@Spider-Kev The "dead" version of MP4 would likely be a completely different and worse version of the game, hence why it was scrapped. It would still take several years of work to be completed, so we are never going to see it.

@OnlyItsMeReid No. Art is needed during all stages of development.

@Spider-Kev I want to see the scrapped version to see the direction that was turned down, but Nintendo would never show that. My theory is that Prime 4 would've been done before Dread had it went forward as planned and not been restarted in early 2019. In an alternate reality, 2020 would've had Prime 4 then Dread for 2021. But yeah, as someone who is usually more a fan of the Metroid games that are non-traditional, I'm curious where Prime 4 was heading before the game was handed to Retro Studios. I do not think Retro Studios is reinventing the wheel with Prime 4. I'm expecting a relatively safe, traditional Metroid experience.

@Troll_Decimator Yeah I know, but it seems like most of the stuff that gets changed after announcement for a lot of these games are graphics, like UI and stuff gets changed a lot right before release.

@I-U I wouldn’t expect to see the game this year, especially since they already have a lot of titles that they would show which are coming out this year

@OnlyItsMeReid There isn't anything in specific that needs more work near release, it completely depends on the game and their internal (and sometimes also external) feedback. This involves all disciplines. Basically no game is ever completely perfect, so there is always work to do, it's just that at some point you have to say "ok this is good enough" and ship it.

@Not_Soos They won't risk outsourcing anything this time. I can't wait to play it on Switch U in 2037!

I don't even think this is news.

Companies (especially in the current labor market) are always hiring with a revolving door of employees leaving and new ones filling those spots.

The game isn't "taking a long time" as some comments I've read might suggest.

It just feels like that because 1) they announced the game uncharacteristically early to build hype for Switch after the Wii U's failure, and 2) they rebooted development from scratch in 2019, which means they started all over from square one at that time.

Normally games don't get announced the moment planning starts. They announce them 3-4 years after the fact, when its closer to release. And they would have never told us about the game on their literal day one of planning phase, but they were forced to due to switching developers. Otherwise ppl would wonder why they aren't hearing news and updates.

It is that unfortunate series of events which led to the situation we're in now. The game is most likely fine and progressing well, but because we knew about it 3+ years too early, ppl feel like it's taking longer than it should. But it's not. We just got an insanely premature announcement.

I suspect this game will release late 2023, or even as a cross gen launch title for Switch 2 in March 2024

@Nintendude78 Kirby, Advance Wars and Switch Sports are likely going to be released before the next general Nintendo Direct. Fill those gaps in with BOTW2, Bayonetta 3 and Metroid news for the next presentation, especially if it's not until June. There will be plenty of room based on the currently known 2022 schedule. If Retro Studios and Nintendo don't want expectations, they're developing the wrong game. Nobody external asked for them to update their Twitter banner with something Metroid Prime 4 related for the first time in the 3+ years they've been working on the game. What's the expectation if it's not that the game is going to have a footage reveal soon?

@I-U That’s already plenty leading up to E3, which they’ll probably just show off a few smaller games and a long focused segment on BotW 2, as much as I would love Prime 4 this year, it’s likely not to happen

When it comes out it will be amazing just like all the other games that Nintendo gets everyone upset about because they take forever.

@Madao I think it's probably due to the extreme lack of output from Retro since DK:TF that has got people worried, though they were not responsible for the restarted development it gives people pause when they wonder why the studio hasn't been able to put any games out for so long. Perhaps there's trouble within the studio, issues which mean they struggle to get projects across the line and that's why it's been so long since we've had any new games from them.
Not necessarily my opinion, but I think that's why people are worried.

It sounds to me that they still have not started making the game yet
As you would need art workers first not last
It's a bit worried when this is onlt starting now
And if that's the case the it looks like another 3 years at least to make the game it will probably be on Nintendo next gen device.

I want to know where the whole it takes 5 years to develop a good game comes from?

We were shown a LOGO in 2017 which was scrapped in 2019 and most big companies are working on projects all the time which sometimes aren't even games. Whilst smaller ones can have long breaks with little to no employees.

Also, the length of the development does not determine the quality of the game but rather the scope and understanding of the strengths and limitations of your idea for said hardware...

Just look at recent releases of games like Cyberpunk 2077 which took 500 employees was announced in May 2012 and was released for last gen console in 2020 with a lot of technical issues, 2022 is for this gen consoles. That's a full 10 years. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt began in 2011 and was released in May 2015 to critical acclaim. That was 4 years.

The opposite is also true.

Nintendo games are somewhat between new engines/ideas with old IPs. They are also rather organically "simplistic" and not have conflated ideas, stories, gameplay elements, battle systems, etc.

If the project is going that badly, Nintendo of this day and age will just scrap it instead of releasing a dud because a dud is worst for them financially and their reputation. Otherwise, it's not hard to scale down. Breath of the Wild is a great game with fresh idea but it also seems to have been scaled down...which get a bad wrap but isn't necessarily a bad thing.

In other words, don't worry about Metroid Prime 4 and besides its the 4th iteration of a series. Most likely, it'll be up to par of the previous titles as they stated.

And no, we don't need everything to be some open world crap. BotW proved that it doesn't even mean anything these days because most companies just slap that label on anything with a big world map.