Nintendo confirmed this morning that the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4 has rebooted development, and the refreshed project will now involve co-development from Retro Studios, the original developers of the Metroid Prime series. Retro themselves will also be assisted by long-time producer Kensuke Tanabe.

Nintendo’s Shinya Takahashi appeared in a special video announcement to explain the previous state of the project did not meet Nintendo’s high standards.  Metroid Prime 4 was originally announced at E3 2017, and later confirmed to be (then) developed by Bandai Namco Studios. Retro Studios themselves have not put out a brand-new game since 2014’s Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, with the developer only handling a Switch port that launched last May.

With today’s bombshell news on Metroid Prime 4 starting over in development, it will be a long time before fans can get their first glimpse of the return of bounty hunter Samus Aran in the Prime universe.

Alex Irish
When he's not writing about games, Alex Irish is an illustrator and animation expert. His favorite gaming franchise is Pokémon, full-stop, but his favorite game of all time is Resident Evil 4. He attended the first-ever IGN House Party and is a five-time attendee of the Ottowa International Animation Festival.