Metroid fans have been waiting for the better part of two decades for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. The sequel was officially announced in June 2017, and Amazon put up preorders sometime after that. Through the game’s extended development, those orders still stood. Now, even after last summer’s re-reveal of Metroid Prime 4, Amazon is canceling those longstanding preorders.
Presumably this is a mistake on Amazon’s end, rather than anything dire like another delay for Metroid Prime 4 or even a cancelation of the game itself. GameSpot has reached out to Nintendo for comment. At least one person on GameSpot’s staff noted that his six-year-old Metroid Prime 4 preorder–which was discounted to $48–was among the canceled orders today.
Following the initial announcement in 2017, Nintendo updated the status of Metroid Prime 4 in 2019 when it was revealed that the previous development was being abandoned in favor of a fresh start with Retro Studios, the same studio that developed the Metroid Prime trilogy. During the years between announcements, a standalone title called Metroid Dread and a remastered edition of Metroid Prime were released on Switch. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption are both reportedly getting remasters for Switch as well.
Aside from those games, Metroid’s leading woman, Samus Aran, remains a regular in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. But to stay current with Samus’ in-continuity adventures, you should probably brush up on everything that’s happened in the Metroid Prime games so far. Nintendo recently reiterated that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will be released in 2025, but it doesn’t currently have an exact date.
