Metroid Prime 4 was announced all the way back in 2017 with just a logo, and that was more than enough to get fans incredibly hyped. Sadly, that announcement would pave the way for a 8+ wait until Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which we now know was fraught with challenges and setbacks during development.
Nintendo would share a statement in 2019 saying that their plans for Metroid Prime 4 with Bandai Namco didn’t pan out, so they would be restarting the project with Retro Studios. That team got right to work on what we now know to be Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, completing an incredibly long development history.
In a new interview with Famitsu, a member of the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond development team spoke at length about the title, including a tidbit about the game’s placement in the overall timeline. While Nintendo usually plays fast and loose with timeline placement for some of their franchises, they seem to have had a very clear vision for where Metroid Prime 4: Beyond falls. (h/t Stealth40k)
“The setting is after Super Metroid and before Metroid Fusion. However, in this game, Samus has traveled through time and space and jumped into another dimension, so from now on, you won’t have to worry about the timeline. We were intentionally conscious of this setting. This is because we wanted to be able to create a free and original setting for Metroid Prime without affecting the 2D Metroid series.”
[Metroid Prime 4: Beyond developer]
