Metroid Prime 4 has a long history. Originally announced in 2017, the game was then rebooted in 2019. We’ve had years of silence, but recently we’ve seen signs of life, but we still don’t have a release date for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. Today I want to have a look at all the evidence to try and answer the question, “What’s going on with Metroid Prime 4” and when will it be released?

Nintendo recently recommited to Metroid Prime 4’s 2025 release date, however, we haven’t heard anything since April and time is running out for a 2025 release. Nintendo has a couple of first party releases left this year including Drag x Drive in August and then Pokemon Legends Z-A in October. Logically that means either a November or December release date, with a potential date reveal in a September Nintendo Direct.

Development history

It all started at E3 2017, when Nintendo surprised fans with a simple logo reveal for Metroid Prime 4. No footage, no screenshots—just a title screen and the iconic Metroid hum. For long-time fans of the Prime trilogy, it was enough to ignite years of speculation and excitement. At the time, Nintendo didn’t even confirm which studio was handling development. It was a mystery—but a hopeful one.

That hope began to waver as months turned into years with virtually no new information. Then in January 2019, Nintendo president Shinya Takahashi made a rare and candid announcement: development on Metroid Prime 4 had not met the company’s standards and was being completely restarted. The new version would be handled by Retro Studios, the original developers behind the first three Prime games. It was a bold move—admitting failure publicly—but it also reassured fans that the game was in the right hands.

What followed was… silence. From 2019 to 2023, there were no trailers, no screenshots, no Directs mentioning Prime 4—just the occasional hiring post from Retro Studios, seeking cinematic designers, world builders, and graphics engineers. Fans picked apart every job listing, hoping to guess the tone, scope, or progress of the game. For years, it felt like the only evidence of Metroid Prime 4’s existence was its placeholder page on Nintendo’s website.

That multi-year silence became part of the game’s mythos. Whenever a Nintendo Direct was announced, fans would hope—maybe this time. And time after time, they were disappointed. Metroid Prime 4 became the Half-Life 3 of Nintendo—always lurking in the background, always just out of reach.

First Signs of Life

After nearly five years of radio silence, Nintendo finally broke the drought at their June 2024 Nintendo Direct. The trailer opened with a sweeping pan over a dense alien jungle, drenched in fog and bioluminescent light. Then, finally, she appeared—Samus Aran—standing tall in a reimagined Power Suit. The words “Metroid Prime 4: Beyond” faded in, confirming not only that the game was still alive, but that it now had a subtitle—and a clear artistic direction.

This wasn’t just a teaser—it was gameplay. Fans saw Samus navigating the mysterious planet Viewros, battling space pirates in first-person, and interacting with the world in more cinematic, immersive ways. The environments looked dense, full of verticality, with dynamic lighting and reflections that suggested it had clearly shifted development to more modern hardware. Retro Studios’ design DNA was unmistakable—the scanning visor, the lock-on combat, the environmental storytelling—but everything looked sharper, faster, and more refined.

But the biggest surprise? New psychic powers. In several shots, Samus appeared to manipulate objects and disrupt enemy shields with what looked like mind-based abilities—something completely new to the series. That twist instantly set the fanbase buzzing. Was this a soft reboot of the Prime formula? A sequel with major evolution? The trailer ended without a release date, just the word “2025.” It was confirmation that the game was coming—but not just yet.

The trailer was short, but it changed everything. It turned Metroid Prime 4 from a meme about vaporware into a real, tangible game. It wasn’t just alive—it was ambitious. After years of doubt, fans finally had something to hold on to. The question now wasn’t “is it coming?”—it was what is it going to become?

New Details and Dual Versions

Just a few months after the Beyond reveal, Nintendo returned with a second trailer during the March 2025 Direct, offering a much deeper look at the game’s mechanics and world design. This time, the setting was unmistakably the jungle planet Viewros, now shown teeming with hostile fauna, ancient alien ruins, and weather effects that hinted at a more dynamic, living environment. We saw Samus facing off against larger enemies, dodging energy blasts, and executing what looked like precision parry counters—a possible evolution of mechanics introduced in Metroid Dread.

The trailer confirmed that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond would release on both Nintendo Switch and the more powerful Switch 2 hardware. While the base Switch version appears to be fully functional, it’s clear Nintendo is putting serious effort into the next-gen edition. The Switch 2 version boasts 4K resolution at 60 frames per second, or 1080p at up to 120 FPS, with full support for Joy-Con 2 motion aiming—something that echoes the Wii-era controls of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, but with more precision and customization.

This dual-release strategy mirrors what Nintendo did with Breath of the Wild, launching a flagship title across two generations. It’s a smart move that ensures the enormous existing Switch user base won’t be left behind, while also letting the game shine on newer tech. The high frame rates, crisper textures, and enhanced effects make Beyond one of the most visually ambitious first-party Nintendo games to date—and a clear showcase for what the Switch 2 can do.

But even with all these upgrades, Nintendo has remained tight-lipped about certain core features. We still don’t know much about the narrative structure, whether the game leans more open-ended like Prime 1, or something more linear and mission-driven. And that mysterious psychic ability shown in both trailers? Still unexplained. There’s a lot we’ve seen—but even more we haven’t. And for fans, that tension is both exciting and nerve-wracking.

The Ad That Confused Us All

Just when the marketing rollout for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond seemed to be on track, Nintendo made a surprising—and very public—mistake. In June 2025, commuters passing through Oxford Circus station in London were greeted with a giant poster boldly declaring that Metroid Prime 4 was “Out Now.” The problem? It wasn’t. The game hadn’t launched. Nintendo hadn’t even announced a release date.

Within hours, social media lit up. Photos of the ad spread across Reddit, Twitter, and gaming news outlets. Was this a shadow drop? A stealth release for digital platforms? Had Nintendo quietly pushed the game live? Speculation spiraled. Some fans were convinced it was a hidden marketing tactic, while others—more grounded—figured it was just a screw-up. The latter turned out to be true.

Nintendo responded quickly, confirming that the “Out Now” label was a printing error. The ad had been based on a shared template used for multiple Switch 2 games—some of which actually were available. Metroid Prime 4 simply inherited the wrong tagline in the chaos of a broader promotional push. Within days, the posters were replaced, now correctly displaying “Coming 2025” instead.

Still, the damage—and the buzz—was done. The ad became a symbol of how desperate fans are for concrete news. After nearly eight years of waiting, even a typo could launch a thousand theories. And in a weird way, the incident breathed more life into the hype machine than Nintendo probably intended. It showed just how starved the community was for anything—even an accident—pointing toward the game’s release.

Why It Might Be Worth the Wait

For all the delays, the silence, and the missteps, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond still has the potential to be something truly special. One of the biggest reasons is Retro Studios—the same team that created the original Metroid Prime trilogy, which redefined first-person adventure gaming in the early 2000s. After years of working in the background, Retro has been given the time, resources, and responsibility to shape this sequel into something that not only honors the series, but moves it forward in bold new ways.

The two trailers released so far have shown more than just a graphical facelift. There’s a clear cinematic quality to Beyond—from the detailed world of Viewros to the more emotional framing of Samus herself. This doesn’t look like a copy-and-paste sequel; it feels like Retro is aiming for something more atmospheric, more personal, and maybe even more story-driven than past entries. Add to that the introduction of psychic powers, and you start to get a sense that this isn’t just Metroid Prime 4—it’s Metroid Prime evolved.

There’s also the confidence behind the scenes. Nintendo doesn’t scrap and restart a project lightly, but they did exactly that in 2019. And since then, they’ve stayed quiet—suggesting they’re letting the work speak for itself. That same quiet confidence worked for Metroid Dread, which launched with minimal build-up and became one of the most critically acclaimed entries in the franchise. If Nintendo and Retro are pulling the same strategy with Beyond, it could pay off in a huge way.

Most of all, the long development time might signal something that fans rarely get: a Metroid game that wasn’t rushed. One that’s been refined, rebuilt, and tested until it feels right. And if that patience leads to a masterpiece—something that sits proudly alongside Prime 1—then maybe all the delays, the confusion, and even the accidental ads will have been worth it.

Conclusion

Metroid Prime 4 is going to be playable in Canada this month, this is following on from playable demos when the Nintendo Switch 2 did their tour around the world, showcasing the game’s mouse controls alongside being able to play with the JoyCon and Pro Controller.

If the game is going to release in 2025, then you would imagine it’s going to be front and center at the next mainline Nintendo Direct, which hopefully will air in September 2025. I’m looking forward to the title, but from a consumer point of view it feels like the development cycle has been long, and full of bumps in the road. I hope it can live up to expectations.

Let me know what you think in the comments.