Metroid fans were left waiting for years, but that patience could be rewarded once more. Metroid Dread is set to launch in October, and Metroid Prime 4 is slowly chugging along in development. However, Nintendo could have another ace up its sleeve. That is according to VentureBeat's Jeff Grubb, who claims that a remaster of the original Metroid Prime trilogy is "done", with the publisher just waiting for the perfect release window.
Speaking on the Giant Bomb podcast (spotted by VGC), Grubb stated that "the game is done and Nintendo is holding it,” hypothesizing that it will be with us around the same time as Metroid Prime 4, but also explained that the game still needs to go through QA, which has been held up in Japan due to the ongoing pandemic
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According to Grubb, Nintendo is currently running a very limited QA operation, so even if this Metroid Prime remaster is ready to go, it will be stuck behind the queue for its final polish. This is unsurprising, considering big hitters such as Metroid Dread and Breath of the Wild 2 are on the horizon.
For any irritated fans clamouring for this long-awaited remaster, Grubb did offer some words of consolation: "It’s not a sign of some bad thing happening, it’s not a sign of a lack of faith in Metroid […] Nintendo can afford [to sit on it] and that’s how they’re treating it.”
On the less optimistic side, however, the QA related hold-ups are unlikely to be relieved any time soon. Japan is currently experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, particularly of the Delta variant. Experts worry this will only be exacerbated by the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, which kick off July 23. Even games that were days away from launch aren't immune to COVID-related delays, as recently seen with Resident Evil Re:Verse, when it was only recently pushed back to 2022.
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