We have some interesting rumors about Metroid Prime 4 Beyond.
Reece Reilly, also known as Kiwi Talkz, has made many interviews with Retro Studios employees, and can genuinely claim to have an inside connection in the company. Today, he made these statements on Twitter:
“In less than a month in the Switch 2 direct you’ll see that Nintendo & Retro were keeping their cards close to their chest with Metroid Prime 4 for this exact moment. The true unveiling will blow everything else in the direct out of the water.
Nintendo are constantly tweaking directs right down to the last minute but as of now I am 90% certain it will be in the Direct.”
What’s interesting about this, of course, is that Metroid Prime 4 Beyond was announced for the Nintendo Switch. So we do know that this game will be a cross platform title, but these statements suggest that there will be something exclusive to the Switch 2.
Well, it’s possible that this will simply a case of the game having better performance on the Switch 2 than the Switch. Our point of comparison for this would be obvious: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
As we know, the game was originally made as a Wii U exclusive, until Nintendo decided to also make it a Switch launch title. At the time, some fans and press were worried about the wisdom of this choice, but it ultimately worked out. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would sell over a million units on Wii U, satisfying a significant number of gamers who didn’t buy a Switch at launch.
But The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild also proved to be a major launch title for the Switch, propelling it to its current trajectory as one of the most successful video game consoles of all time. For what it’s worth, there was actually exclusive content on the Wii U (carrying over Wolf Link using the Wolf Link amiibo and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD), but the Switch version ultimately outsold it at a significant ratio.
And that takes us to a big difference between that situation and the one with Metroid Prime 4 Beyond. There will be full backwards compatibility between the Switch and Switch 2, so Nintendo has no reason to make any exclusive content on the Switch version.
Switch 2 players may simply get shorter loading times, and perhaps some performance improvements, but only in uncommon high demand scenarios. Nintendo pulls every trick in the book they have to optimize their games, and we believe this will be no different.
For what it’s worth, even with Kiwi Talkz bona fides, we aren’t sure if we should believe this rumor, or if it may really be speculation on his part, or a mix between the two. In any case, we know we’re looking forward to that Switch 2 Direct for sure.
