The developer has been rumored, but their name is not a significant surprise.

We haven’t heard much about Samus Aran lately. Okay, Metroid Dread was developed by MercurySteam (as a Nintendo Switch exclusive, of course), which was good. Still, in the meantime, the big N has announced a new entry in the recently ignored Metroid Prime series, with a fourth installment coming to Switch. Still, development hasn’t been straightforward since the 2017 E3 announcement. Bandai Namco Studios was initially mentioned as the developer before handing the IP back to Retro Studios, who developed the first three titles.

But Metroid Prime 4 is supposed to be a 3D game. Let’s not forget that Metroid started as a 2D game on the Famicom Disk System (because Nintendo designed it as a floppy game, not for a cartridge; the 1986 FDS release was followed by the US version in 1987 and then the European NES version in 1988), so that’s Samus’ home genre. Nintendo is well aware of it, as Metroid Dread from MercurySteam also offered a 2D experience, and its success was such that rumor has it that the big N has ordered a new game from the Spanish studio.

On Twitter, a Spanish leaker, Nash Weedle, wrote back in April 2021 that “2D = yes, MS [MercurySteam] = yes, 2021 [release] = yes”, and now claims that MercurySteam is again working on a 2D Metroid, but it won’t be released in 2023 or 2024, but only in 2025. If Samus returns in two years, we have to wonder if it’s for the Nintendo Switch or the new N platform. After all, the Switch will be six years old in March, and a console generation usually lasts seven years…

We’ll see what happens, but it’s safe to say that Nintendo has seen the demand for Metroid. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait much longer for Metroid Prime 4, which is supposed to be more immersive and cinematic.

Source: WCCFTech