Nintendo posted a video update this morning and revealed that Metroid Prime 4, a game many were hoping was coming to Switch this year, is restarting development. Retro Studios is returning to helm the anticipated title in an almost unprecedented move. I guess they’re done porting Donkey Kong games (kidding)? Restarting development on a game that has presumably been in development for well over a year indicates whoever was working on the game was not meeting Nintendo’s quality standards. The game was in development hell, even with urgings from Nintendo indicating otherwise. Now we have a definitive answer. With this change, the game will not release this year and probably won’t release until 2020 at the earliest. Shinya Takahashi, Nintendo’s Senior Managing Executive Officer, states it will be a while until we get our next update regarding Samus’ next excursion.
This isn’t a horrible thing though. As stated, the game in its current form was not up to Nintendo’s standards. Retro Studios has a legacy of excellence and developed the three previous critically acclaimed Metroid Prime titles. Nintendo has enough coming out in 2019 that they don’t need Metroid Prime 4 for this year, although Metroid fans will be disappointed. What they won’t be disappointed with is the game itself, and that’s what counts. Retro has an excellent track record and there is no way that Metroid Prime 4 will let fans down now that they’re in control.