UK Charts: Metroid Prime 4 Falls From The Top Ten

As expected, but a shame anyway. Metroid is a really amazing game, I certainly hope it will sell good enough to at least secure another entry in this awesome series. I don't want to wait 18 years again...

Kirby is selling very well in our town for Christmas. I myself went to get a copy after 2 weeks because they were sold out. The salesman told me that every kid wants to buy Kirby like a fighting zelda or metroid that they don't even know.

BLUEY is on number 33. 😄

Hmm, I know Metroid isn't a system seller, or anything close to that, but I do hope it sells well enough to warrant a new entry sooner, rather than later. The 18 year wait was NOT good at all. Expectancy of the game itself is way too high and will seldom be met with the actual game. I think Metroid Prime 4 definitely suffered from that. The subreddit is a hellhole that's being torn apart in similar fashion as Star Wars Episode 8 did, or the entire sequel trilogy for that matter. It's never good...

I'll be (im)patiently waiting for a new 2D Metroid now!

First of all, thanks as always for the report.

But also, if I can bring this up, there's a mistake with Minecraft: PlayStation Edition's platform splits since it's not on Switch by default

Mario Kart World at number 1 means a lot of Switch 2 consoles are getting sold.

Metroid Prime 4 will still be a sales success relative to the series' historic sales.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga having 0% sales on Switch is hard to believe.

That's unfortunate for MP4.
You could say it was Metroid, prime 4 disappointment.

I'll let myself out.

Ufff been playing it these days… the desert area is atrocious and way too big… and the bike just takes you out of the mood and gameplay. The elemental areas are just too linear… and the weapons feel quite uninspired. The creature log is too thin, the scans are too few. Boss designs are meh.
I miss the times when you were surprised by the new uses of the visors, beams and suits.
Definitely my least preferred prime game.
What a dissapointing way to end 8 years of waiting.

There’s just so much tampering with the working formula that it feels … weird and kind of awful. Just like TotK.

Hopefully it gets better in the latter half.

Architecture and music is flawless though.
It’s still a good and fun game… but not an excellent Metroid Prime game :/

Open empty worlds shouldn’t belong in a Metroid game at all tbh

The development hell left some noticable scars. I'm sure that many are waiting for a sale since games have gotten more and more expensive.

I like Metroid Prime 4 so far but understand why it may not be that popular. It's a bit too similar to the old ones while also not being as good. I'll take a slightly flawed entry into a franchise I love over no entry at all.

It wouldn't have sold well here regardless but still it's not a great game compared to the others. As a big Metroid fan I've played a few hours but not been compelled to finish it.

Half of the top 10 are first party titles!! But but but Nintendo doesn’t sell in UK??!

Sad for MP4 but hopefully with it being out early in S2 life it will have some decent legs.

@WheresWaveRace Yes, but where's Wave Race?

Metroid Prime 4 is still number 1 on the Switch 2 eShop chart here though

Number 11 on Switch 1 eShop

@Anti-Matter You always make me smile when it comes to Bluey etc and your enthusiasm for the IPs you love

@John_Deacon The chart includes the bundle. They classify it as a physical purchase, just as they do Code In A Box games like Tony Hawks 3 and 4 which was included in these charts.

I'm worried about sales since Nintendo barely marketed it

@somnambulance A lot of people are loving, but negativity has the tendency to drown out other views on the internet, so I imagine many would be turned off before giving it a shot. It's been nice on this site seeing how many have really been enjoying it, even if there are parts they are not a fan of.

In France Prime 4 is number 1 on week 2!

https://x.com/pierre485_/status/2000288827370516626

@BaldB3lper78 Probably because Nintendo has that information. I guess Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony would all have to agree to share it if we wanted that included.

@WheresWaveRace Nintendo does sell well in the UK, but pretty much "casual" games, like Mario and Pokemon...
Actually, having a deep look at the chart, one could think only kids and casual gamers own the console over there... (I know it's not true, but it looks like it).
Metroid is about to go away at this pace, Hyrule Warriors is nowhere to be seen, games like Star Wars and Assassins Creed are selling much worse on the Switch 2 than on PS5 (despite being much more recent),...
That makes me hope Metroid is selling better in other places, to compensate this.

@John_Deacon

Even though it is digital game it comes packaged with the console so is considered a physical purchase.

Edit: I see others have already answered your query.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on first place probably means:

There will still be MANY Switch 1 bundles under the Christmas trees this year!

I got a feeling that we won't get a Prime 5, anytime soon 🤣
The game was okay, but not worth the wait.

Hope the next 3D Metroid, is in third person.
Though before that, we need another 2D game.

I think although it’s to be expected, being number 15 at this time of year isn’t too bad, as it’s a very competitive time of year. Even at #15 I’d imagine its sales are still pretty substantial. I’d love to see it have some legs and still see it in the top 40 in the new year though.

@Moistnado same here. I seem to be one of the few people who enjoy the bike (although the desert could use a lot more content). The training bits reminded me of Extreme-G. In my answer to the Nintendo Survey this morning I asked them to consider making a spin-off bike racing/combat game á la Extreme-G! I can already imagine the outraged YouTubers if such a game got announced!

@Novuscourvous maybe turn off your ad blocker I have seen a lot of ads for Metroid Prime 4, especially on tech sites.

@somnambulance I'm 3 keys in and loving it too. True, it's much more linear than MP1 but with my limited gaming time these days I actually don't mind. What I'm not looking forward to is the upcoming hunt for Green Energy I hear people talking about. I've been trying to find crystals everywhere I go but I've only hit about 25% so far (1st unlock in the Altar of Legacy).

@Exerion76 I might be the only one, but I'd LOVE to see an spiritual sequel to Metroid Other M, but better done, of course. That game definitely had potential! It's a mix of 3D and 2D, and, if well done, it could take the series to another level (like Mario 3D World did).

@Rattustheratt
When you get the super bomb, you can bomb those big rocks next to some crystals. The amount of crystals in those rocks, fills up the meter much faster 👍

I picked up the Mario Galaxy bundle last week to go under the tree. That and Echoes of Wisdom will be my last Switch 1 games before I go Switch 2 in the spring.

Well done Mario karts and Donkey Kong.
Well Metroid isn’t in same league purchasing power wise as the MK and DK
Also the game hardly got the big Nintendo AAA reviews and score.
I’m enjoying it though.

As a huge Metroid fan, I can honestly say I don't think I'll ever go back to Prime 4. I finished it 100% and for the most part, I was just bored.

The characters had no personality and I couldn't even attempt to care about any of them. The ending felt rushed whilst trying to be emotional and it fell harder than a miss-timed bomb jump.

The green energy grind to open the final area was pointless busy work that learned nothing from Wind Waker's triforce piece hunt.

The main pull of Metroid, solving puzzles and opening secret areas to find power-ups was so incredibly easy, coupled with the ability to just have them show on the map, it took away all challenge of the game.

The enemies and bosses were just as easy to kill with the standard beam that it rendered using anything else useless.

The open world served no purpose other than padding out the time to get to another area because the developers knew they couldn't connect these areas with any kind of cohesion.

The upgrades were boring, even Samus' suit was dull and the Legacy suit was just a recolour with nothing added to it or any kind of wow factor.

This game was stuck in development hell and even after development was restarted, it looks like they sat on it for 6 years before even thinking of what to do with it. The game was clearly unfinished, slapped together and sent out just to get it off of the release schedule.

It's not a "bad" game, but a terrible Metroid and Nintendo's most disappointing game for a long time. As sad as it to accept, I don't think we'll see Metroid again for a long, long time.

Well that chatty NPC told me everything I needed to know about the game.
This desperately wants to be 'cool', but also 'family friendly'. That's why it's never going to be either one of those.

Majority of people who are interested in Prime 4 will have bought it on day one- it’s just one of those kinds of games. Not surprising to see it drop off at all.

For what it’s worth most of my friends list (20+ people) have been playing it and it was number 1 on the eShop for at least a while, not sure if it still is. I think when all is said and done it’ll be at least successful enough for them to do another.

I'm ready to do my part and buy Metroid Prime 4 this week. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll get it.

@Freek Meh-troid Prime 4 - Echoes of Mediocrity

I can only buy so many XD

No surprise there. It's a niche game. I'm not done with the game, but it's a bit underwhelming. I'm still hoping for a sequel and more Metroid games, but better than prime 4

@John_Deacon It could be as the console is picked up physically with the bundled game that they count it as a physical sale.

or number 2 , MKW has seen it's retail copies selling at around £50 , so many might be picking it up because of the cheaper price if they bought a non bundled switch and didn't want to pay £75 at the time.

No idea why people expected MP4 to sell amazing. The prime series (or hell most of the Metroid games that wasn’t Dread) was never that popular. It just was a beloved lower string Nintendo sub series of games. The whole reason Dread did amazing was because it was on the more popular 2D version (you know the genre that Metroid has half its name on) + people forgot it released/got heavily promoted with the OLED Switch 1 release.

That said this doesn’t mean MP4 flopped. From what I heard it had a decent launch for a Metroid game that wasn’t Dread. It just (as expected) not gonna have amazing legs because this isn’t exactly Mario Kart or Pokemon level of easy barrier of entry where it will have legs for literal years.

I think the lack of sales is due to how metroid hasn't fully embraced the metroidvania genre, and keeps challenging it in uninteresting ways.

@Exerion76 now that's good news!

@Pillowpants Well it was 18 years if you only count the FPS parts. In between we got Other M and Dread, which were both great.

@Yoshi3 desert area doesn't bug me that much. I'm more let down by the linearity of the areas and the constant hand holding via the map markers and miles dialogue.

You don't grow the brand by putting a Jar Jar into your game so the reviews become mixed. The sales could still be the highest in series history, but they blew their chances to have huge numbers. The game I am sure is fine, but this early in the Switch 2 life it could have been a BotW moment for the series.

But instead people will always remember this game as that one with the annoying guy and the bike that was cool for a short while.

Metroid Prime 4 is fine, but it wasn’t worth an 18-year (or whatever is was) wait.

Dread on the other hand the as absolutely fantastic.

@NintendoWife Yeah, you are right about us getting at least some more Metroid games. And Dread was really a peak game! I meant a new Prime series entry. And in all fairness, we didn't even know a fourth entry was coming until it was announced 8 years ago. Still, even that amount of years of waiting between the teaser and the actual release didn't help at all...

I am thoroughly enjoying the game, even though I am not too fond of the desert area as a connecting hub. There's just a general lack of things to do and the minor areas are very uninteresting, if you ask me. Still, the world design overall and the gameplay when the game is what we are used to are great. I just hope a new entry will arrive within a shorter timespan than what we got now.

@Ploppy rumour has it Wave Race 4 will be the big Xmas '26 sports title! Believe!! #ImDeludedAndIKnowIt

On the other hand, it is still number 1 in North American Nintendo Eshop sales for the week ending December 14. I hope it sells more in the coming days, because it is one of the top games I have played on the Switch 2.

I've put nearly 400 hours into Mario Kart World, but Metroid Prime 4 is the game that makes me really happy I bought a Switch 2.

Presumably it's the result of all the negativity online and the low marketing budget. It's a shame as I'm really enjoying the game.

Makes sense. It's just not very good, compared to great modern games. Not many people like spending their time with awkward combat in between scanning everything around you and backtracking repeatedly. Yes it's pretty but so are lots of other games.

Well, I've been digging it quite a bit. It don't think it holds your hand any more than every Metroid since Fusion - they've all given you hints at where to go next. I do find the areas a little on the small side though - they feel quick so far. The Desert really isn't that "big" but it could use a little more life or points of interest. Still, these are minor faults, and I still think it's a really good game.

so far metroid prime 4 is such a good game tough/challenging bosses,beautiful looking environments and epic soundtracks.Also we still dont have the western sales for prime 4 for physical and digital.

@BrianJL the amount hate against desert and crystal collection has been blown over proportion i find that area really fun to drive my bike around like people do with dune buggies/vehicles.

Prime 4 is brilliant so is a real shame to see it fall off a cliff like that. Retro did a great job.

Hopefully the lackluster reception and disappointing sales of Prime 4 send a message, because the game is definitely not up to standards. Retro failed miserably to recapture the magic.

At this point they should probably not even bother making another metroid prime game, if they want to revisit first person then they should try to remake one of the older games in the style of prime (a first person fusion or super metroid would be incredibly clean and impossible to mess up... knock on wood).

Prime 4 was such a catastrophic disappointment I think it did more damage to the franchise than just not having it at all lol.. it was meant to be a catalyst for getting new metroid fans and prove metroid isn't a dead series after the federation force disaster, but it just turned out to be eye candy with its graphics and the most boring gameplay on the switch 2 console IME yet with the desert and literal 3 different enemy type spam.. "Oh boy new area.. i hope these mines aren't just 99% of the same enemy I've faced in the forest and ice areas! hahaha..."

Not surprised with its build up of being one of the most anticipated and long awaited titles it'd do well on pre-orders and day 1 sales then fall off because no one is recommending it for the late buyers that did a bit of research first.

I am sure if it was the revolutionary 7 year in development game it should have been then it would have done better.

Look at the games in the top ten and remember this is less than two weeks before Christmas.

Parents and Grandparents are buying games with titles they recognize for their children/grand children.

• Mario Kart World
• EA Sports FC 26
• Pokémon Legends: Z-A
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
• Minecraft
• Donkey Kong Bananza

Metroid Prime 4 is fantastic!
I like that it is trying new things with the world design using the OoT structure with smaller areas being more Metroid like. I don't know yet if the secrets rooms and passages are going to be enough compared to older entries. The linearity being a staple of the series is not a problem. Even though it might clash with the expectations of some when they saw the open areas, it's up to them to realize it's not an open world after all, no more than old school zeldas were, again referring to the OoT world structure.

The gameplay is wonderful as always with the most refined gameplay in the series with so many options! The bike is well integrated and fun to drive around.

And above all the presentation is terrific with the best music and overall atmosphere in the series in my opinion and artistic direction ABSOLUTELY OFF THE CHARTS.

Of course I'll reserve my judgement for when I actually complete the game but so far it's been really great, already better than 3 and on its way to beat 2.

I hope someday, that material from the scrapped OG version of Prime 4, will leak online.

I enjoyed MP4 Beyond but honestly, I think it could have done with one more temple/dungeon and boss fight. The game was good but felt a little short compared to the previous 3 Prime games.

For me the chatty NPCs and the pastel/light color palleted isn't for me. Doesn't feel like the isolation and dread you feel in the ot trilogy.

@Novuscourvous That is not true at all .This game has been marketed more than any Nintendo game for 8 years.

I guess the broad media's campaign to destroy Metroid Prime 4 with their deranged hysteria over a dorky computer character worked. I also fault Nintendo for not releasing it early in the year, or even late 2024. It could have enjoyed almost undivided attention due to little else of consequence released on Switch at the time. Now, with all the distractions of other games and higher expectations for Switch 2 games (even if technically it's a Switch game), Metroid Prime 4 is lost. The sales results are simpler appalling for a stellar title like this. Whatever! I'm loving it to pieces.

The dip in ranking matches my interest, as I haven't gone back to it since getting the first key.

Nintendo really dropped the ball on this one. Hope they learn from their mistakes and improve on the sequel. If I had paid full price the disappointment would be real...

Metroid Prime 4 eventually will be referred to as the Halloween 3 of the Prime series

Still number 1 on the Switch2 eShop, via the Nintendo Store app. It has tumbled on the Switch eShop though, interestingly enough!

@SpaceboyScreams how can people tell it isn’t good if they haven’t played it? What a stupid argument.

I would guess the low reviews of both critics/players and the high price tag puts people off. I would also pass on a game this expensive if I was not a big fan. Well, to be honest, after playing it I would also advise people to pass if they are not big fans. For a lower price one can get great games like Hades2, Silksong, Absolum, etc...

Based on the anemic marketing, I get the feeling that Nintendo was anticipating the somewhat lukewarm reception. There was no dedicated Direct, for instance. For a title as anticipated as MP4, you would expect it to be given the "VIP treatment".

For comparison, Dread was an OLED launch title and got a collector's edition.

@Jireland92 Because people are easily fooled and quick to jump on hate bandwagons when they're told to by others. I have one friend who is especially ultra-annoying for this trait, letting others make up one's mind. It's beyond infuriating.

@John_Deacon Last time Nintendo updated their sales figures over 90% of Switch 2 owners had Mario Kart World.

So most Switch 2 owners who didn't get the bundle must have bought Mario Kart World physically because almost everyone with the system has the game.