Metroid Prime 4 development to restart with Retro Studios as new developer

Wow. When Metroid Prime 4 was announced at E3 2017, we were told that a new development studio would be taking on the development of the new title in the classic series. Today, that all changes.

In a YouTube video posted to all of Nintendo’s social media, Senior Managing Executive Officer Shinya Takahashi has announced that all current development on Metroid Prime 4 will be scrapped. Development on the project will restart under Retro Studios, the US developers responsible for the original Metroid Prime trilogy. Takahashi has warned that, because of this, the completion of the game will be much later than initially expected.

“We strongly recognise that this delay will come as a disappointment to the many fans who have been looking forward to the launch of Metroid Prime 4. I’d like to extend my deepest, heart-felt apologies to everyone that the launch will be delayed. It will be a long road until the next time we will be able to update you on the development progress, and development time will be extensive. However, we will continue developing the game so that when it is completed, it will stand shoulder to shoulder with the past Metroid Prime series titles.”

This kind of candour and transparency is incredibly rare to see from a company like Nintendo, especially in regards to a title for which no gameplay footage, or any footage at all, existed. It’s hard to tell what to expect of such an announcement, but fans will surely be happy to know that the series is back where it all began.

You can watch the full announcement video below.