In a surprising video announcement released on Friday, Nintendo’s general manager of entertainment planning and development, Shinya Takahashi, revealed that development on Metroid Prime 4 has reached a barrier.
Specifically, Takahashi indicated that the current build of the new entry was not meeting Nintendo’s quality expectations, and the company has decided to start from scratch, handing the project over to the original Metroid Prime developers, Retro Studios.
The game’s producer, Kensuke Tanabe, has been asked to “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.”
Community reaction to the announcement has been more positive than negative, with fans saying that they are more than happy to wait for a product that is polished to Nintendo’s standards. That said, the development restart means that new information on Metroid Prime 4 may not surface for another few years.
Nintendo is sincerely apologetic and promises to deliver a finished product that meets what fans have come to expect from the company. With development in the hands of the original studio, the wait should be well worth it.
