Metroid Prime 4 E3 Absence Explained by Nintendo

A lot of Metroid fans waiting for an update on Metroid Prime 4, the long anticipated continuation of the legendary first person shooter franchise, were disappointed this E3- contrary to what they may have expected, Nintendo did not offer any updates whatsoever on Metroid Prime 4. While it was unlikely that the game was going to hit this year (and Nintendo had emphasized that it would only be focusing on games from this year for E3), I suppose many were still holding out in hope.

Speaking to Game Informer, Nintendo’s Bill Trinen and Nate Bihldorff noted that while the game is still in development, they are not planning on showing any more of it until it’s in a state of completion where they feel comfortable showing it. Speaking about why they broke that cardinal rule with the early announcement of Prime 4 last year in the first place, Trinen said, “Last year was the first year for Switch at E3, so we took a bit of a departure from our usual approach to E3, which is to focus on more near-term stuff. Last year, because it was the first year for the hardware, we looked at things that were maybe a little further out. This year, you can see pretty clearly, we’re back to focusing on the near-term. We’ll have more to share with Metroid Prime 4 when we have something we think is going to wow people.”

It’s a bit of a shame, but I suppose there is no use in bringing the same games to E3 over and over again every year- people get tied of the games, which themselves begin to suffer from overexposure (you hear that, right Sony?). I guess Metroid Prime 4, if it is due out next year, is going to be featured at E3 next year, then.