According to the studio’s CEO, accusations that the Spanish studio (which, according to other rumors, has already received the development kit for the new Nintendo platform) was in disarray internally during the development of the latest franchise installment are untrue.

Enric Álvarez, CEO of MercurySteam, spoke to GameReactor about working with the Japanese company on the Metroid franchise, and also responded to accusations about MercurySteam’s internal state in 2021 (namely that the game was a success):

“We have an excellent understanding of each other [with Nintendo]. It’s fair to say that over time we became friends. They are super talented people, super hard-working people. They have an unbeatable work ethic, and they are open to accepting new ideas and trying them. We were also starving to leave our mark on the franchise. And we never ceased to suggest and propose ideas. Many of them ended up in the final product.

So, we are very proud of the collaboration between us and Nintendo. And, yeah, as I said, one of the best development experiences we could dream of. I don’t think the development was chaotic. Chaotic development doesn’t end with one of the best games in the franchise. It doesn’t end with a game that has sold over three point-something million copies. It doesn’t end with a game that won The Game Awards awards. That’s all I have to say about it,” Álvarez said.

So he brought up that Metroid Dread sold a lot of copies. But it should be added that the gaming industry is constantly evolving, and consequently, sales have been increasing so that you hear that records have been set almost without exception. However, given the three and a half decades of the franchise, which often struggles compared to other Nintendo IPs, older titles have sold less, and sales figures are hard to find. In 2007, Retro Studios said that the first Metroid Prime had sold more than 2 million copies, and so far, only Metroid Dread had reached 3…

So much for Álvarez’s defense…

Source: VGC