Nintendo has attempted to clear up any questions about when exactly on the series’ timeline Metroid Prime 4 takes place. While the answer was short and sweet, if anything, I’ve been left more confused than I was before.
Whenever there’s a new entry in a long-running Nintendo series, long-time fans try to piece together when exactly on that game’s in-universe calendar the events of that game might occur. The takeaway whenever this happens is that Nintendo really doesn’t think about this stuff, and it kind of wishes we didn’t either. However, if we bicker about it long enough, someone from HQ will poke their head out and give us answers just so we stop arguing.
Metroid Prime 4 Has A Place On The Metroid Timeline, But Also Takes Place On Its Own Brand New Timeline
That’s probably why we now know when exactly in Samus’s lifespan Metroid Prime 4 takes place. In an interview with Famitsu where various people from Nintendo who have worked on the Metroid series fielded questions, it was confirmed that Prime 4 takes place between the events of Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.
Simple, right? Well, no, not really. If you’re a diehard Metroid fan thinking that doesn’t make sense, that’s because there’s another half to this explanation. “In this game, Samus has traveled through time and space and jumped into another dimension,” the Prime 4 developer adds.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Had Such A Long Development Cycle That Another Reboot Was “Out Of The Question”
Nintendo and Retro both knew that Metroid Prime 4 couldn’t wait any longer.
Naturally, I have questions. If Samus left the original timeline to embark on her adventure in Metroid Prime 4, then who is the Samus in Metroid Fusion and the other games that take place beyond that on the timeline? I’m going to assume that this is a multiverse situation where Prime 4 is taking place on a different branch away from what I’ll refer to as the sacred timeline. Marvel fans will know what I’m talking about.
Nintendo Has Said You Don’t Need To Worry About It Anymore, But I’m Betting You Will
I am clearly thinking about this too much already – and I won’t be the only one – as the Prime 4 dev adds, “From now on, you won’t have to worry about the timeline.” They noted that the decision was a conscious one so that the Prime games can continue without affecting what’s going on in the 2D Metroid games.
A smart, albeit still confusing, decision considering Samus’s journey was wrapped up in the events of Metroid Dread, the most recent 2D game in the series. There will be more 2D games, as is further suggested by Nintendo’s comments about distancing them from the Prime games, but they will presumably start an entirely new story and potentially even take place on a whole new timeline, although that last part is purely speculation.
The removal of Prime 4 from Metroid’s sacred timeline has moved it into The Legend of Zelda territory. Nintendo has had similar problems figuring out what happened when in the Kingdom of Hyrule. Metroid’s timeline isn’t nearly as confusing as Zelda’s (yet), which has two defined branches following the events of Ocarina of Time, and officially confirms Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are their own thing and have no place on the series’ official timeline.
- Released
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December 4, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen / Animated Blood, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Retro Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
