So, Metroid Prime 4 didn’t go over well. Reviews aren’t terrible, though the game certainly has its shortcomings. But not living up to expectations is one thing. It’s another thing entirely to not be given any in the first place.
Metroid Prime 4 certainly had no shortage of interest from the broader gaming public, but apparently, that enthusiasm wasn’t shared by Nintendo’s higher-ups.
For some context: the Nintendo Switch 2 was expected to have a big sales surge in and around the holiday season. But those sales were nowhere near what anyone was hoping for. The Switch 2 still lives in the shadow of its predecessor, falling short of what the original Switch accomplished in its 2017 holiday rush.
So, we get a postmortem. Capitalism’s world of infinite growth really does not like it when things shrink, so something like this warrants an explanation. And to that end, there’s a trail to follow. According to TheGameBusiness, sales of the Switch 2 were down across the board, but primarily in western & European countries. France was the worst offender of the bunch, as The Sales Line(tm) fell by more than 30%, shattering office chairs across Nintendo boardrooms.
What’s to blame for the Nintendo Switch 2’s holiday disappointment?
Naturally, if Switch 2 sales were down, especially outside of Japan, it must be because it didn’t really appeal to that western market. It’s a simple answer: the hardware was good, but in the holiday season, no games had come out that had much reach outside Japan. This is the conclusion an anonymous senior Nintendo member told TheGameBusiness.
And at that, IGN spotted something interesting: it’s kinda sorta not true at all, actually. Don’t forget about Samus Aran so quickly! Metroid may not have (yet!) earned a spot on Nintendo’s Mount Rushmore, but it’s certainly part of Nintendo’s broader canon of major IPs.
If Nintendo’s higher-ups genuinely believe that a Metroid game doesn’t count as a ‘major release’, that doesn’t bode well for fans hoping for more Metroid titles in the future. Especially if those executives are feeling desperate for that sort of thing right now.
It’s a precarious state to be in, one that demands high-quality games to escape from. Metroid: Dread certainly fit that bill, but Metroid Prime 4? It’s a harder sell.
If you’re still in the market for more Metroid, keep an ear to the ground for any rumblings from Nintendo. They’re unlikely to abandon the franchise wholesale, though if it’s radio silence for a long while, it might be time to make some noise of your own.
