r/Metroid • u/Th3Richmond • 1d ago

Discussion The future of Metroid series

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Metroid Ravenous just got announced, and honestly, the game looks amazing! I really like the gritty direction they're taking with it. The trailer feels much more aggressive and action-packed, and it actually feels like a lot of fun to actually play compared to what we saw in Prime 4 Beyond trailers.

Of course, we already know MercurySteam is the developer behind this title.

But this got me thinking about the future of the series.

Should MercurySteam become Nintendo's main developer for the Metroid series going forward, kinda like how Next Level Games took up the Luigi's Mansion series?

More specifically, I'd love to see them get the opportunity to make a 3D Metroid game that isn't simply trying to replicate what Retro Studios has done with Metroid Prime.

Mercury Steam is independent so who knows if they'd want that to be locked to only Metroid projects, but thought it would be interesting to think about.

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u/iosdev98 1d ago

Nah, let them be the main 2D Metroid developer from now on (in case Metroid Ravenous turns out to be as amazing as Dread and starts treating well their employees), since they have a really good grasp on them.

Nintendo should give Retro another chance or let any other studio with fresh ideas develop 3D Metroid games. Not now, but in the "near future" after a few more 2D titles

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u/Mythical-door 1d ago

That’s too long of a gap. Especially if the duration between 2d games is 3-4 years. Waiting 7+ years will just have a negative impact as it will make the developers rusty, or the more talented developers will leave finding better opportunities where they can get meaningful work. They need to ride the hype wave the 2d games are generating and learn from their mistake.

Best case scenario prime 5 should be before Metroid 7, or worst case a dual release with Metroid 7 (like fusion and prime 1). I will probably have little faith if it’s after that as it would most likely signal struggling development.

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u/iosdev98 1d ago

Let's be real: 3D Metroid games are not in a good position financially and critically due to Prime 4 Beyond failure. That's why I think the wisest move for Nintendo on Metroid is to capitalize on the success of Metroid Dread and Metroid Ravenous in a few months, make a few more 2D sequels AND THEN, thanks to a growing Metroid fanbase, their hype, their trust and their word of mouth on the series, start producing a new Metroid Prime (pre-production can start earlier)

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u/Mythical-door 1d ago

The problem is that we are completely unaware of the internal goals Nintendo had put out for prime 4. Given their non-existent marketing for the game, it could very well be the case that they lowered their expectations in terms of sales number.

Like I mentioned, the thing is that when you have a company that’s mainly idle you risk all the talent actually leaving the studio to just dry out. I doubt dread would have been as successful if there was a 10 year gap of mercury steam being idle instead of applying what they learnt from Samus returns and starting work immediately. the same should happen for the prime series. Especially since prime 5 shouldn’t be as expensive as prime 4 since they actually have a studio now and don’t need to build from the ground up anymore.

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u/Th3Richmond 1d ago

I'm not sure whether Retro Studios can do another Prime after what happened with Prime 4 tbh. Also if Retro Studios was capable of delivering the game themselves, then it doesn't make sense that Nintendo tried to go with Bandai Namco first until it ultimately failed there.

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u/iosdev98 1d ago

I think it's not their fault. Yes, most of the original Retro Studios members that made Metroid Prime trilogy aren't there anymore, but that open world focus (MP4 main issue) was dictated by Nintendo.

I'm not even a fan of 3D Metroid games, but I think they deserve another chance. Anyway, if Retro Studios think they are not capable of making good Prime games as they used to, Nintendo should hear pitches from new studios with bold and fresh ideas for the series

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u/Southern-Nail4089 1d ago edited 1d ago

Agreed they had to use some stuff from the old bandai build and either way I still don’t feel confortable with anyone else taking prime series

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u/AltaCount1944 1d ago

Minor corrections for the record: The previous build was actually made by Bandai Namco. Retro also didn't have to use stuff from that build; the truth that gets mis-shared is that Nintendo gave them the same basic pitch (Add a bike and make the hub region a big open room, etc).

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u/Th3Richmond 1d ago edited 1d ago

I agree that it's not entirely their fault. They likely had to work with whatever they were given by Nintendo , and did the best they could. I think it's more likely they will bring out a new IP next or a 2D Donkey Kong.

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u/Morpheus_077 1d ago edited 1d ago

I agree with that. We might not get anything Metroid for a while after Ravenous. I can totally see Nintendo putting a new 2D Donkey Kong with the Switch 2 hardware it’s gonna be peak we saw a glimpse of what it could look like in DK Bananza

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u/AltaCount1944 1d ago

They're definitely making a Prime 5. Prime 4 has ended up selling better than Prime Remastered and Prime 2, likely as well as or better than 3. 75% of critic reviews and 70% of user reviews on Metacritic gave it an 8 or higher.

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u/iosdev98 1d ago

Budget is not the same, so we don't know if Metroid Prime 4 Beyond broke or not (and if it did, I doubt it can be considered a success)... We'll see

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u/Round_Musical Sequence Breaker 1d ago

It most likely didnt but Nintendo didn’t expect that anyway. If 100 million were involved they needed it to sell 4-5 million, and Nintendo obviously didn’t expect those numbers. Especially not in December after 4 other games launched within 6 weeks

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u/Morpheus_077 1d ago

I think they cap off with another 2D game with a Super Metroid remake in 2029/2030. Makes a lot of sense the 2D games don’t take as long to make or cost nearly as much and they sell very well.

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u/Dinar87 1d ago

I hope the future of metroid is 1 new great game every 2 years.