Nintendo have released a video today with some unfortunate news regarding Metroid Prime 4’s development.

Shinya Takahashi, responsible for development at Nintendo, has confirmed that the project hasn’t met the required standards Nintendo seeks, and development will be restarted from scratch. He went on to confirm that Producer of the Prime series Kensuke Tanabe is now working in collaboration with Retro Studios, the original developer of the Metroid Prime Trilogy.

Hello everyone. I am Shinya Takahashi, and I’m responsible for development at Nintendo. I wanted to speak with you today to give you an update on Metroid Prime 4.

Ever since the announcement, we have not been able to give you an update, but as a result of the continuing development since that time — although this is very regrettable — we must let you know that the current development progress has not reached the standards we seek in a sequel to the Metroid Prime series. If we’re not satisfied with the quality, we aren’t able to deliver it to our customers with confidence. From this perspective, we have determined that the current development status of the game is very challenged, and we had to make a difficult decision as a development team. We have decided to re-examine the development structure itself and change it.

Specifically, we decided to have the Producer, Kensuke Tanabe, work in trust and collaboration with the studio that developed the original Metroid Prime series, and restart development from the beginning. By collaborating and developing with Retro Studios, we believe we can make this game something that will meet our fans’ expectations. We did not make this decision lightly. This change will essentially mean restarting development from the beginning, so the completion of the game will be delayed from our initial internal plan.

I’d like to extend my deepest, heart-felt apologies to everyone that the launch will be delayed. It will be a long road until the next time we will be able to update you on the development progress, and development will be extensive. However, we will continue developing the game so that when it is completed, it will stand shoulder to shoulder with the past Metroid Prime series titles.

On behalf of Nintendo and Retro Studios, I sincerely appreciate your understanding.