One of the most anticipated video games currently in development is Retro Studio’sMetroid Prime 4. The game, which will serve as a direct sequel to 2007’sMetroid Prime 3: Corruptionon the Nintendo Wii, was announced for Nintendo Switch during Nintendo’s 2017 E3 Direct to be developed by Bandai Namco Studios Singapore. Suddenly, in early 2019, Nintendo announced that it would be restarting development onMetroid Prime 4from scratch and passing it over to Retro Studios, who it seems is now hiring for a lead producer on the project.
Fans were shocked when in January 2019, after admitting that it was unsatisfied with the progress made on the game, Nintendo announced thatit would be restarting development onMetroid Prime 4with Retro Studios at the helm. And despite development restarting almost 19 months ago, it would seem that Retro Studios is stillslowly building the team to develop the game, implying thatMetroid Prime 4will not be releasing any time soon.
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Recently the studio put out a tweet advertising a job listing for a lead producer position in the development ofMetroid Prime 4. The role of a lead producer is major in game development, given that a lead producer regularly oversees the game’s entire development and assists in building a lot of the core team developing the project in the studio. WhileMetroid Prime’s series producer Kensuke Tanabe is currently attached to the project, given the amount of titles Tanabe manages, including recent titles such asLuigi’s Mansion 3andPaper Mario: The Origami King, it makes sense that the game needs another producer.
This tweet has made many concerned for the status ofMetroid Prime 4’s development. While it is likely frustrating for Nintendo and Retro Studios to have gone through such a public delay of the game, the likely scenario is that, like the canceled Bandai Namco Studios Singapore version, the game will likely linger in pre-production for another 6-12 months until entering active development.Given the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, it should also not come as much of a surprise that the development ofMetroid Prime 4, like most other video games currently in development, has been effected, further delaying both the structuring of the team and the game’s pre-production.
Rumors have circulated for a while that Nintendo has been waiting until closer toPrime 4’s release to announceaMetroid Prime Trilogyremaster for Nintendo Switch, a remaster of all three of the GameCube and Wii titles in HD with JoyCon support. While these rumors have been circulating since late 2017, it has been included in leaks mentioningPikmin 3 Deluxeand a Nintendo SwitchPaper Mariotitle, both of which have either been announced or released since being leaked.
