E3 2017: Metroid Prime 4 Is Not Developed by Retro, Still Has Longtime Series Producer

Nintendo has revealed that the recently-announced Metroid Prime 4 is not developed by Retro Studios, the developer who made the first three games.

Instead, Nintendo’s Bill Trinen revealed at a group interview that the game is being built by a “talented new development team.” Despite the shift, the game will still be overseen by longtime producer Kensuke Tanabe, who produced the previous Metroid Prime games.

Beyond that, Nintendo didn’t reveal additional details about development, but did confirm that the game is still a first-person adventure and will be released “beyond 2017.”

Back in 2015, Tababe told IGN what he wanted in a new Prime sequel, explaining that there is "still more I want to build around the story of Sylux and Samus. There’s something going on between them. I want to make a game that touches upon [it]." He added at the time that "in that eventual game between Sylux and Samus that might get made, that I want to involve the [Galactic] Federation as well." For now, we don't know if this will actually be the story of Metroid Prime 4 or if plans have changed since then.

Earlier today, Nintendo confirmed Metroid Prime 4, but only revealed that it’s “now in development for Nintendo Switch.”

Stay tuned to IGN for more Nintendo news, and find all of the big announcements from the show in IGN’s E3 hub.

Andrew is IGN’s executive editor of news and has missed Samus dearly. You can find him rambling about Persona and cute animals on Twitter.