With us being within six weeks of the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, rumors and reports about “what will be shown” will be flying in from all directions, regardless of how “realistic” they all are. Some will be about what will be shown at that Nintendo Direct, while others will be about what’s coming “down the line.” After all, while The Big N will do its best to astound everyone in its first big Direct for the new console, it also knows that it needs consistent content throughout the years to keep the Switch 2 thriving. So, is Metroid Prime 4 getting a sequel for the Switch 2?
That might sound like an odd question at first, as Metroid Prime 4 hasn’t even come out on the Nintendo Switch, where it’s rumored to still be launching. However, leaker Nash Weedle has suggested that Nintendo is not just working on the 5th installment in the franchise but that the game is slated for a 2027 release.
That would indeed be a quick turnaround and raise many questions about the game and the team behind it. After all, the reason the 4th entry was “bogged down” since its E3 2017 reveal was that the game’s development team got switched, no pun intended, a few years in. Nintendo gave the reins back to Retro Studios, who made the original beloved trilogy, and things went smoothly ever since. Or, so it is believed.
As such, if Nintendo believes that Retro crushed it with the 4th entry, then it would make sense that they would ensure they were given control of the 5th entry and had them working on it immediately. Now, let’s discuss the timing issue. A “two-year turnaround” is very quick, even for a Nintendo title. However, as Switch proved, not all games that were released in a certain year were finished that year. Instead, Nintendo has finished titles and then held them back to ensure that they had a good release window to be part of so that they weren’t “lost in the shuffle.”
So, in theory, Samus may have had her new game started a while back as Retro was polishing up the upcoming entry.
One thing to consider here is that Nash Weedle is wrong and that the new game won’t be a direct sequel but a continuation of the 2D games, the last of which was a huge success on the Switch. As such, and like always with rumors like these, you MUST take them with a grain of salt.
