Nintendo reboots Metroid Prime 4, taps Retro Studios to restart project

Nintendo has delayed Metroid Prime 4. Nintendo is rebooting the project and shifting development to Retro Studios, the Metroid Prime series’ original developer, according to a statement from Shinya Takahashi, senior managing executive officer at Nintendo.

“The current development progress has not reached the standards we seek in a sequel to the Metroid Prime series,” Takahashi said in a development update video posted to YouTube. “Nintendo always strives for the highest quality in our games; and in the development phase, we challenge ourselves and confront whether the game is living up to that quality on a daily basis.”

According to Takahashi, Metroid Prime 4 was not meeting that standard.

“We have decided to reexamine the development structure itself and change it,” Takahashi said. “Specifically, we have asked the producer, Kensuke Tanabe, [to] work in trust and collaboration with the studio that developed the original Metroid Prime series, Retro Studios in the United States, and restart development from the beginning. By collaborating and developing with Retro Studios, we believe we can make this game something that will meet our fans’ expectations.

“We did not make this decision lightly. This change will essentially mean restarting development from the beginning, so the completion of the game will be delayed from our initial internal plan. We strongly recognize that this delay will come as a disappointment to the many fans who have been looking forward to the launch of Metroid Prime 4.”

Nintendo announced Metroid Prime 4 for Nintendo Switch at E3 2017. The company only showed a logo for the game, and since then has not provided game details or shown gameplay. At E3 2018, Nintendo did not showcase the game, saying it did not want to repeatedly tease fans until the game was closer to completion. Originally, Nintendo said it was using a new development team to handle development of Metroid Prime 4, and reports later indicated Bandai Namco was involved in the project.

You can watch Takahashi’s full statement in the video below.