Metroid Prime 4 "Well In Development" Nintendo of America Boss Says

Metroid Prime 4 was first announced for the Nintendo Switch in 2017, but a year later we haven't seen any more than the initial teaser. But Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime that the game is coming along.

"Internally, we have expectations about when [Metroid Prime 4] is going to be released," Fils-Aime said to Mashable in a recent interview. "We haven’t announced it, but yeah, the game is well in development."

Fils-Aime said that it's not usually Nintendo's M.O. to announce a game earlier than six months to a year before release, "but there are times for strategic reasons that we believe it's important to message that a game is coming," Fils-Aime said. "We did that years and years ago with Zelda. We were messaging a new Zelda experience back during the days of the Wii U... It really depends on the game, it depends on the type of development that it's going through, and it depends on how we feel the consumer is going to respond to the particular message."

Metroid Prime 4 is the sequel to the Metroid Prime Trilogy by Retro Studios. Bandai Namco seems to have taken over development according to reports, but aside from the brief logo trailer we don't have much to go on about setting, story, gameplay, or graphics.

Despite the long period between the teaser and new info it seems the strategy paid off for Nintendo. Earlier this year Blizzard was criticized for not doing something similar with the Diablo franchise, and a reveal for a Diablo mobile game instead of a mainline Diablo game created an internet backlash.

Meanwhile this holiday Nintendo is focusing on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Pokemon Let's Go and doesn't have plans to introduce something like the N64 Classic. Be sure to check out our Metroid Prime 4 guide for more news.