Metroid Prime 4 not coming to Wii U

A Metroid Prime game is unlikely to be developed for the Wii U, claims the series’ producer.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Kensuke Tanabe suggested that work on such a title had not yet begun. He also claimed that given development could take up to three years, any Metroid Prime game “would likely now be on Nintendo’s NX console”. More details on the firm’s new hardware is expected next year.

Tanabe pointed to the difficulties of developing HD games as one of the reasons development had not previously begun on the title.

“Truth be told, making HD games takes a lot of time and resources," he said.

"I haven’t been able to collect a team or the resources to do it."

The Wii U has struggled to gain traction amongst consumers since it was launched in 2012, and the console has lacked significant third-party support. Early on, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto also admitted that Nintendo itself had underestimated the scale of HD development, and the additional time and resources required to make games for its console.

“When it comes to the scale of software development, Wii U with HD graphics requires about twice the human resources than before,” said Miyamoto at the time.

“Please allow me to explain that we may have underestimated the scale of this change and as a result, the overall software development took more time than originally anticipated just as we tried to polish the software at the completion phase of development.”

News of a lack of movement on a new Metroid Prime title is likely to anger a section of fans. The announcement of Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the 3DS, which features multiplayer and sports modes, has angered some who had anticipated a shooter along the lines of the Gamecube and Wii titles.

A petition has even been started on Change.org calling for the cancellation of the game. More than 12,000 people have signed the petition so far, with some calling the newly announced game “disgusting” and a “disgrace”.