The first Nintendo Direct of the year may have only been less than an hour long, but that doesn't mean there weren't plenty of announcements and news for fans to get excited about. With big releases coming this year like Mario Strikers: Battle League, Nintendo Switch Sports, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3, 2022 is looking to be a full year for Nintendo games. Splatoon and Fire Emblem fans will also be pleased post-Direct, but any players looking for news on the eagerly anticipated sequel to 2017's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild were sadly disappointed. Another glaring omission from the presentation was Metroid Prime 4 – a project that has been worryingly quiet since its 2017 announcement.
Despite no news yet on Metroid Prime 4, Nintendo did announce some free updates for Metroid Dread to tide fans over as they wait for some bigger announcements about Samus' future. However, all insights seem to point to a rather long and slightly troubled development cycle for the upcoming game. Although this doesn't necessarily mean that fans should be worried, it might indicate that Metroid Prime 4's release is still a long way off. However, just because players can't expect to get their hands on it anytime soon doesn't mean that they won't hear more about the game in the meantime.
Metroid Prime 4's Development So Far
First announced during Nintendo's E3 broadcast in 2017, developers have been relatively quiet about the title in the intervening years. Despite news that, unlike the previous Metroid Prime games, the latest installment wouldn't be developed by Retro Studios, Metroid producer Kensuke Tanabe was still revealed to be involved. Things remained under wraps as Metroid Prime 4 failed to make a showing at subsequent E3 showcases, despite developers insisting that development was well underway and progressing smoothly. This seemed to be undermined when it was announced at the start of 2019 that the original project for Metroid Prime 4 had been scrapped and development had started afresh back under Retro Studios, with Tanabe overseeing.
Although it's been in development at Retro Studios for just over three years, details of Metroid Prime 4 are still frustratingly vague. There have been no new trailers, images, or details revealed about the narrative or gameplay. Despite assurances that developers are still working hard, fans were further perturbed when news of hiring sprees for key roles in 2019 and 2020 indicated that the game was still many years away. With storyboard artists being brought on in October 2020, it seemed that Retro Studios really was redesigning the game from the ground up. Still, a more cinematic and emotional story-driven experience seems likely based on the hires, which has intrigued some fans.
When Fans Might Expect To Learn More
With the major Nintendo Directs happening roughly four times a year, it's still a safe bet that fans might expect to hear some news of Metroid Prime 4 at some point during 2022. While it's unclear what this might be – all fans have seen so far is a logo and a first-look trailer from before development was handed over to Retro Studios – any news at this point will be welcome. By now, it's been five years since Metroid Prime 4 was first announced, and three years since development began again under a new studio, so there must be something that Nintendo has to show for all of this time working behind the scenes. At the very least, fans can infer that the developers are working hard to fine-tune the title as much as possible.
It's not been an easy ride for Metroid Prime 4's development or fans of the original series. After the last installment in the Metroid Prime trilogy was released in 2007, other games in the franchise have been few and far between. Other eagerly anticipated installments in various beloved Nintendo franchises like Bayonetta 3 and the Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel have now been given release windows thanks to Nintendo earnings reports, but as Metroid Prime 4 has not, it may point toward a 2023 release at the earliest. If this is the case, 2022 will be the developer's chance to build hype and excite players with details of the upcoming game, so hopefully gamers will soon be learning more about the mysterious Metroid Prime 4.
Metroid Prime 4 is in development for Nintendo Switch.
