Nearly a decade on from its initial announcement, Nintendo will finally launch Metroid Prime 4: Beyond for Switch and Switch 2 later this year, on December 4, 2025.
Nintendo made the announcement today during its major Nintendo Direct broadcast, ending months of speculation around Metroid Prime 4’s whereabouts. Nothing had been seen of the game since the Switch 2’s big reveal event back at the start of April, something that had prompted fan speculation the game had run into difficulty, or was set to be delayed again.
Today, however, we got a fresh look at gameplay that revealed Samus will be riding a motorbike-style vehicle in what looks like a larger open world area. A press release confirmed this “technologically advanced bike” is named the Vi-O-La. We do not yet know why.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has already had a dramatic road to release. As a long-awaited follow-up to 2007’s Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, originally launched on the Wii, a fourth installment of the first-person action-adventure series has been long-awaited by fans.
Development on the project initially began at Bandai Namco Studios, though Nintendo rebooted the game back at Metroid Prime trilogy developer Retro Studios after two years, unhappy with how development had unfolded. Little was then heard of the game for years, until it was formally re-announced in 2024, and then confirmed as a cross-gen title for Switch and Switch 2.
Today brought a huge amount of news on everything from Mario to Pokémon, Yoshi to Fire Emblem. For much more, check out everything announced at the Nintendo Direct September 2025.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
