Metroid Prime 4 Release Date Leak and New Gameplay Details: What Nintendo Just Revealed

Nintendo has finally pulled back the curtain on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, confirming a 5 December 2025 launch for both the Switch and the more powerful Switch 2. After nearly eight years of stop-start development, producers at Retro Studios say the sequel is “feature-complete” and now deep in optimization, marking the end of one of Nintendo’s longest gestation periods. Early hands-on sessions paint a picture of a game that modernizes Prime’s atmospheric gunplay without abandoning its exploratory DNA. Media outlets who played a 90-minute demo report rock-solid 60 fps performance in handheld and docked modes, HDR explosions, and environmental detail that finally realizes Talon-IV-style biomes in full 4K on Switch 2 hardware. The classic Morph Ball, Scan Visor and Charge Beam return, but the headline addition is a suite of Lamorn “psychic abilities.” The marquee Control Beam lets players steer charged shots through bullet-time corridors to hit multiple switches or boss weak points, reshaping both puzzle-solving and combat arenas. Not every tweak is universally praised. Previewers note a chatty mechanic sidekick, Miles MacKenzie, whose scripted quips and on-the-nose hints risk diluting the tense isolation that defines Metroid’s tone. Still, boss encounters—such as a tentacled jungle plant that demands synchronized psychic shots—suggest Retro is leveraging its new powers for inventive set pieces rather than simple spectacle. Structurally, Prime 4 sticks with interconnected rooms, save stations, and gradual power-loss-and-recovery loops that longtime fans expect. What’s new is scale: larger hubs accommodate vehicle segments, including the much-teased hoverbike, while expanded NPC hubs promise side missions that feed back into Samus’s arsenal progression. Nintendo will bundle the game in a $69.99 standard edition, a $99.99 SteelBook “Hunter Edition” with concept art book, and a twin-pack with the newly announced Samus & Lamorn-Glyph amiibo that unlocks an in-game suit variant and a daily Energy Tank recharge. Pre-orders go live on My Nintendo Store and major retailers today, and Switch 2 owners will receive higher-resolution textures plus ray-traced reflections via a free day-one patch. With a firm release date, next-gen visual leap, and gameplay refinements that balance nostalgia with fresh mechanics, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is poised to be a marquee holiday title—and the search traffic around the franchise shows fans and newcomers alike are more than ready to chart Samus Aran’s next mission.