Metroid Prime 4 Delayed As Retro Studios Take Over Development

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Nintendo’s Shinya Takahashi has a shared a development update relating to Metroid Prime 4 for Nintendo Switch, revealing that the game will be restarted at Retro Studios.

Revealed to the world at E3 2017, Metroid Prime 4 was reportedly being created by a “talented new development team” at Bandai Namco Studios Japan.

After the game’s absence at E3 2018, Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime explained that it was “well in development” but it was not at a point where it was the right time to share more.

Today we learn that it “has not reached the standards” that Nintendo sought to achieve, and, therefore, they have made the difficult decision to restart development at Retro Studios – the developer that was behind the original Metroid Prime trilogy.

“Thank you so much for playing Nintendo games. I wanted to speak with you today to give you an update on Metroid Prime 4, the newest title in the Metroid Prime series,” Takahashi explains.

“We deeply understand the high anticipation that Metroid Prime series fans have for this title. We have felt it especially from the passionate words from fans we heard when we first announced this title at E3 the year before last.

“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 very 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.

“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. If we’re not satisfied with the quality, we aren’t able to deliver it to our customers with confidence, and the game will not live up to our fans’ expectations.

“From this perspective, we have determined that the current development status of the game is very challenged, and we had to make a difficult decision as a development team. We have decided to re-examine the development structure itself and change it.

“Specifically, we decided to have the producer, Kensuke Tanabe, 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 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, heartfelt 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 the 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.

“On behalf of Nintendo and Retro Studios, I sincerely appreciate your understanding. Thank you very much.”

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