If you were hotly anticipating Nintendo's Metroid Prime 4, we have some bad news. It's been scrapped. The good news is that it's being remade! But that does mean Nintendo is starting almost from scratch, which means it's going to be a good long while before the game sees the light of day.
The Metroid Prime series has been a historic performer for Nintendo selling millions of copies throughout multiple titles, spanning decades of development, generations of gamers, and generations of consoles in the same breath. The original Metroid Prime was a breakout hit in 2002 for the Gamecube and represented a change of pace for the franchise. It switched to the first-person perspective and was the first Metroid game to use 3D graphics rather than the more traditional 2D approach.
Sequels from that branch of the series have been equally successful, so fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of the 4th Prime title. After its original announcement in 2017 though, the game has gone through some difficulties and Nintendo isn't pleased with its progress. So it's rebooting it.
Announced on YouTube by Shinya Takahashi, Nintendo's head of development, the reboot is a regrettable move, but one that Nintendo feels it needs to make, as the game has not met its standards at this time. Nintendo has now handed off development to Retro Studios, the developer of all previous Metroid Prime games. Nintendo will also continue to work closely with the development team.
While this does mean that it will be sometime until we hear more about the game, Nintendo pledges that when it's eventually released it will stand "shoulder to shoulder with the past Metroid Prime series titles."
