Has Metroid Prime 4 been canceled? Here’s what we know

Metroid Prime 4 is one of the most hotly anticipated games for the Nintendo Switch, but many think it’s been canceled. Why is that?

Metroid Prime 4 was first announced in 2017, with development stemming from a partnership between Nintendo and Bandai Namco. News was scarce for years after, with minimal information coming out until 18 months later.

In a surprise announcement in January 2019, Nintendo executive Shinya Takahashi revealed the company was hitting the reset button. Instead of moving forward with Bandai Namco’s version of the game, Nintendo was handing the game over to Retro Studios, a development studio based in America. Since then, very little information has come out.

So what’s the status of Metroid Prime 4 at this point? Will it be coming out any time soon? Or could the game be scrapped again? Here’s everything we know.

Is Metroid Prime 4 canceled?

Metroid Prime 4 has not been canceled and is still in development. 

Nintendo and Retro Studios have been largely silent about the state of the next installment in the Metroid Prime series, but that’s not because development has been paused. The Metroid Prime 4 is still in the works at Retro and does not appear to be canceled. 

This should be welcome news for fans of the Metroid Prime series. Retro was the team behind the first three Metroid Prime titles for the Gamecube and Nintendo Wii. The series was critically acclaimed and resurrected the Metroid franchise alongside Game Boy Advance classic Metroid Fusion in 2002. Prime and Fusion were the first Metroid games since 1994’s Super Metroid on the SNES.

The sticking point is that it seems as though Retro had to start over from the beginning after the project was pulled from Bandai Namco. Takahashi was blunt with the reason for this decision.

“Ever since the announcement we have not been able to give you an update but as a result of the continuing development since that time, although this is regrettable, we must let you know that the current development progress has not reached the standards we seek in a sequel to the Metroid Prime series,” Takahashi said in 2019.

The good news is that Retro Studios has been working on Metroid Prime for years. Though there’s no estimated release date at this point, Retro’s body of work and history with the series should be cause for excitement. The company is also aggressively hiring new talent to work on the game, so there’s no question that the wheels are turning towards release.