Today, Nintendo announced that not only was it delaying Metroid Prime 4 for Nintendo Switch, but that it was rebooting the game’s development and starting fresh with a brand-new developer. In other words, we won’t be seeing for quite some time.
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That said, unfortunately what Nintendo didn’t announce was why it was doing this, though at the time, it was presumed it was an issue of quality and/or development issues.
However, since the delay announcement, Game Informer’s Imran Khan has taken to Twitter to reveal the reasons he has heard — presumably from one or numerous insides sources — of what went wrong.
“Hearing that the big problem with MP4 development was Nintendo’s experimental ad-hoc development process; it was being made in parts in different countries,” said Khan on Twitter. “Some studios were trucking along saying it was going smoothly while it was on fire elsewhere.”
Khan continued:
“Internal thinking was that it needs to be all under one roof to right the ship. Interestingly, Retro made the pitch for their involvement and put together a demo that Nintendo liked.”
As you may have noticed via social media and forums across the Internet, if there’s one bright piece of news fans have attached to in this development, it’s that Retro Studios — the makers of Metroid — is now at the helm. However, as Khan points out, the Retro of 2019 is far from the same developer who made the original trilogy beloved by many.
“Retro working on MP4 is interesting,” said Khan on Twitter. “There’s not a lot of old Metroid Prime people there anymore, so the experience is all just in the name. It’s a good PR move, but I under what happened with the old developer (which was BNS) to cause them to overturn the table.
“The last I heard of the game was around September when people told me it was proceeding fine. Reggie even said the same in December, when clearly it must have been boiling over.”
Today was a bad day for Metroid fans, as who knows when MP4 will now release. And unfortunately, not only has Nintendo delayed MP4, but it has seemingly delayed the Metroid Prime Trilogy port to Nintendo Switch with it.
As always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think, or hit me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ to let me know there and to talk all things Metroid.
