UPDATE: 2025-05-09 09:08 EST BY JAMES LUCAS
Just An Educated Guess
Kiwi Talkz has explained that this wasn’t a leak,just an “educated guess”.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyondis still set to launch later this year, and we’ll probably get an actual dateat this rumored Nintendo Direct supposedly happening later this month, but there’s already talk of what developer Retro Studios will work on next.
For those unfamiliar with the developer’s work, Retro has primarily worked on eitherDonkey KongorMetroid Primesince its foundation, with a brief pause for a Mario Kart game on the Nintendo DS. With a new Metroid Prime on the horizon, many had wondered whether Retro would start working on another 2D Donkey Kong, now that the great ape is arguably more popular than ever thanks to Bananza.
Metroid Prime 4 Beyond Studio Will Reportedly Start Metroid Prime 5 After Launch
Unfortunately, for Donkey Kong fans at least, that doesn’t appear to be the case. According toa known insider called Reece “Kiwi Talkz” Reilly(thanks My Nintendo News), all the fans thinking that Retro will move onto a new Donkey Kong following the release of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond are huffing “copium”, and that it’s “unlikely Retro returns to Donkey Kong again”.
Reilly believes that Retro’s unique ability to make Metroid Prime games is exactly the reason why it won’t work on another franchise following Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and they even claim that Retro could immediately move onto Metroid Prime 5 following its release. However, they don’t think Retro will become “the Metroid Prime studio”, and that it could move onto a new IP following Metroid Prime 5.
Of course, like with all comments made by insiders, take all of this with a pinch of salt. It does make sense that Retro is a Nintendo studio like no other, and Nintendo will probably want them to make unique games that only they can make rather than a Donkey Kong game that plenty of studios under its umbrella can handle. It’s a shame for 2D Donkey Kong fans, but as Bananza has shown, plenty of other developers can make a great DK game.
