Source: Nintendo / Nintendo
If you were one of the many of people excited about Metroid Prime 4 you will find this news somewhat disappointing. Today (Jan 25), Nintendo’s senior managing executive officer Shinya Takahashi announced via a YouTube video statement the game will be delayed.
Nintendo is hitting the reset button on the game and entirely rebooting it, Retro Studios the original developer behind the Metroid Prime series will be taking over. In the YouTube video statement, Takashi states:
“The current development progress has not reached the standards we seek in a sequel to the Metroid Prime series. 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.”
“We have decided to reexamine the development structure itself and change it. 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.”
Metroid Prime 4 was first announced for the Nintendo Switch at E3 2017 to much fanfare. Since it was revealed, Nintendo opted to stay mum on the title at E3 2018 and didn’t share footage of the game claiming it did not want to tease fans until the game was near or close to completion. This news does feel like a punch in a gut, BUT on the bright side, we are for the honesty from Nintendo and the commitment to deliver the Metroid Prime game fans want. At least we got Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to hold us over for a while.
You can watch Shinya Takahashi’s full statement on the game’s delay below.
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Photo: Nintendo