After several patient years of waiting, Metroid Prime fans were duly rewarded in the Nintendo Direct of June 2024. Following major surprises for fans of The Legend of Zelda, Mario & Luigi and Mario Party franchises, Nintendo revealed a significant “one more thing” final trailer, confirming Metroid Prime 4 is back on the menu, and launching for Nintendo Switch (and possibly its successor) in 2025.
Why did Metroid Prime 4 take so long?
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, in development at Retro Studios, has had an incredibly long path to release. It was first announced a whopping seven years ago, at E3 2017 (RIP E3) – and over the years, there has been only scant updates for the highly-anticipated adventure. At various points, it was said to be progressing well, but countless other Nintendo games swiftly began to pass it by.
A mid-development reboot and studio change in 2019 indicated trouble for the game, as Nintendo confirmed the previous developer on the title (reported but not confirmed to be Bandai Namco Studios) did not meet its expectations. The project went through a major rework, and was handed over to Retro Studios with a view to create a higher quality, more engaging adventure.
After years of no updates on this version of the game, Metroid Prime 4 eventually began to seem like a nice, but likely-to-go-unrealised idea. As surprise-announced by Nintendo, this isn’t the case at all – the game’s developers have simply been cooking in secret.
Read: Nintendo Direct June 2024: Every major game announcement
Metroid Prime 4: New trailer reveal
In a new trailer for the game, Nintendo revealed a significant glimpse of gameplay – Samus arriving to a mysterious planet on her ship, doing a cool flip, and then facing off against alien space pirate hordes. There was a real sense of dynamism to this reveal, with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond feeling lively and cinematic in approach.
The final moments of the trailer confirmed Sylux, a space bounty hunter who first appeared in Metrid Prime Hunters, will be one of the main antagonists for the game.
While only short, the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond trailer is incredibly promising, and indicates a new frontier for Metroid Prime is on the way. After several years of waiting and hoping, fans of the franchise will finally get the chance to play this long-awaited game at some point in 2025.
Notably, news of this game’s arrival landed in a Nintendo Direct designed to highlight new and upcoming Nintendo Switch games, so we can expect it will launch on this console. That said, with a 2025 release date, it could also be a cross-gen title simultaneously launching on the “old” Nintendo Switch, and its future successor. Stay tuned for more on this upcoming game.
