Rumour: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond aims for a summer release after Nintendo's financial report

As we all know, Nintendo is looking to take more of the market by launching the Nintendo Switch 2 on 5 June, in what all analysts are already predicting to be the biggest game console launch in history.

In addition to the console, there are a number of exclusive Nintendo titles coming this fiscal year. We already have firm dates for Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World, but others such as Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond have yet to arrive. But now, thanks to the recent financial report on the close of fiscal year 2025, we now have a clue to narrow down Beyond's release window in the current calendar year 2025. And it all points to the end of August.

The key is in the supplementary material to the report, which lists the first-party games announced for Nintendo Switch 1 (the report separates intergenerational from Switch 2 exclusives), and in the image there's a nuance between Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond that needs to be pointed out. Pokémon Legends: Z-A is clearly stated as "late 2025", while Metroid Prime 4 only states '2025'. This may already give us the idea that the adventure with Samus will come before our return to Lumiose City.

Looking through the press, we find that the gameplay trailer for Metroid Prime 4 Beyond was shown during the Nintendo Direct on 27 March, and that the previous instalment in the series, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, was released on 27 August 2007. Given that the end-of-summer window (and the start of the school year, which are generally prime release dates for major titles) is pretty empty at the moment (with the announcement of GTA VI's delay, it won't take long to fill it), it seems to us that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond may have its own special niche there, especially as it's a cross-generational release that will offer substantial improvements on Nintendo Switch 2 as well.

And if you want to see just what Metroid Prime 4: Beyond looks like on Nintendo's upcoming console, don't miss our own gameplay captured at the Paris Premiere event in early April, which you can find below.