'Metroid Prime 4' Development Is Starting Over From Scratch As New Studio Takes Over

Though we had a release date leak earlier this year stating a November 29th launch for Metroid Prime 4, it looks like that might not be the case after all following an announcement from Nintendo about resetting the development process for the highly anticipated Metroid game.

Senior Managing Exec Shinya Takahashi took center stage to talk about the upcoming Nintendo Switch game to explain what was happening behind the scenes and why fans haven't been hearing much concerning progress updates. In the above video, Takahashi-san mentioned that it was the passionate fans around the world that helped make the decision to restart easier in the long run in order to make the game that players deserve. Because of that commitment to expectations, they have decided to reset the entire development process and bring in a studio that has extensive knowledge of the original games: Retro Studios.

As for why they revealed the game so early without having an idea for a release date, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime explained back in 2017 in an interview with IGN:

"For us, we believe that having hands-on opportunity married to an announcement is really the best way to do it. So, let's take Super Mario Odyssey for example. We could have announced it months ago, but we weren't ready, the team wasn't ready to show it and to let the consumer really understand visually how the hat mechanic works, how the capture mechanic comes into play. And so, that's how we think these through.

For certain games, games that will be in development for, let's call it a decent amount of time, like Metroid Prime 4 -- and given that it's a franchise that we know people have been very eager to get news on -- that's when, fine, we'll share it. We'll share it early. Others, we want to hold closer in and reveal it when the gameplay is going to be available. It literally is game by game, title by title, how we make that decision."

What do you think about Nintendo's decision to reset their progress? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below!

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