Nintendo is reportedly gearing up to release what could be one of the most expensive games it has ever made. Nintendo is one of the most successful companies in the gaming industry and unlike its competitors, it keeps a tight handle on how much money is spent on projects. Companies like PlayStation aren’t afraid to spend anywhere from $200 – $300 million on a single player video game, partially because the brand is known for prestigious cinematic story driven games. However, if a really expensive game like Concord bombs, it can be super costly to the company and cause massive problems for everyone under the studio umbrella.
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Nintendo has always kept things in line by not creating games with ultra realistic graphics. Not only is the cost of living in Japan significantly cheaper than a place like California, allowing Nintendo to pay people much less than a developer at PlayStation, but they’re just much more conscious about how that money is spent in general. With that said, sometimes things still balloon for various reasons. It has been reported by YouTuber Kiwi Talkz, who is very knowledgeable about Nintendo projects, that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond cost about $100 million. It’s believed that this would be one of the most expensive Nintendo games, especially since Metroid Prime 1 cost just $10 million.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Reportedly Cost $100 Million to Make
Nintendo doesn’t reveal many of its video game budgets, so it’s hard to compare to something like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but this is still believed to be very much on the higher end. Kiwi Talkz estimates Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will have to sell around 5 million copies just to break even, which may be doable in the long run given Nintendo doesn’t significantly discount its games and it’s releasing on Nintendo Switch 1 and Switch 2.
As for why this particular game cost so much, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is finally releasing after nearly a decade of development. The game was announced not long after the Nintendo Switch 1 was released and was one of the most anticipated games for the console. Unfortunately, the game suffered major setbacks with delays and a full blown internal reboot that resulted in Metroid Prime 4 switching developers. Not only that, but then it had to be built with the next Nintendo Switch console in mind as well. It’s unclear just how well the game will run on the original Switch, but it’s hard to imagine Switch 2 didn’t eventually become the console that the developers were targeting.
Of course, Kiwi Talkz could be wrong, so take this with a grain of salt. He’s a pretty reliable source for Nintendo stuff, but numbers like this can absolutely be incorrect, outdated, or inflated. We’ll likely never get concrete numbers from Nintendo since these things are usually kept under wraps, but it’s an interesting peak behind the curtain.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will finally release on December 4th, 2025 for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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