It's been a long time coming, but Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is still on track to release this year according to Nintendo, which is welcome reassurance for anyone left feeling a bit wary thanks to the eight-year wait and development restart that, for a while, was our only real news about the game.
Metroid Prime 4 was first announced as an upcoming Switch game back at E3 2017 (RIP), at which point all we got was a logo reveal and the promise of it happening. After an extended period of silence, 2019 arrived, and Nintendo confirmed that it was going to "restart development from the beginning" since its "current development progress has not reached the standards we seek" for a new Metroid Prime game. After that, all went quiet until last summer when it finally reemerged with an actual trailer and a 2025 release date. Rejoice!
But now, here we are in 2025 with no actual release date confirmed yet. That's not an unusual thing, of course, it's still early in the year, but Nintendo appears to be attempting to put any worries to rest, as it's reiterated that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is one of its already announced "Nintendo first-party titles scheduled for release in 2025" in its latest financial results.
Alongside Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Nintendo has also included Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (which released last month), Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (which is coming on March 20), and Pokemon Legends: Z-A, which similarly doesn't have a confirmed release date but is scheduled for 2025. As the company hints, these are just the games "that have been announced to date," so there's very little doubt that it has more secrets up its sleeve, especially with the Switch 2 set to launch this year.
Speaking of which, it's not been confirmed at this point if Metroid Prime 4: Beyond could also be getting a Switch 2 version of some sort. It's definitely coming to the OG Switch, and thanks to the upcoming console's backwards compatibility, it's more than likely going to be playable on there, too. Nintendo doesn't refer to the aforementioned games as first-party Switch titles unlike the "Nintendo Switch first-party software" it mentions earlier in the financial report, but, of course, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is already out, and as it stands, just on the regular Switch, so this might mean nothing. Even so, between Metroid, Pokemon, and a new console, it's shaping up to be a good year for Nintendo.
