One of the biggest surprises in Nintendo’s storied history happened in June 2021 when Metroid Dread was finally unveiled for the Switch. By that point, the game had passed into legend, with many fans admitting that it simply didn’t exist.
One of the most significant catalysts for fan anticipation came via Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, released for the Wii in 2007. Although series producer Yoshio Sakamoto was already trying to create a sequel to Metroid Fusion, with apparent evidence emerging via internal documents, it was the third Prime a performance by Retro Studios that really got the pulse racing. Part of the knowledge from the game is listed “Experiment Status Report Update. Metroid Project ‘Dread’ Nears Final Stage of Completion”.
In a recent interview with Kiwi TalkzEchoes and Corruption producer Bryan Walker confirmed previous reports that the in-game message was just a coincidence. That hasn’t stopped desperate fans, however, as some have actually reached out to Retro Studios’ headquarters in Austin, Texas, demanding that the team share what they know about the elusive project.
Bryan Walker: “I honestly lost count of how many times people would literally show up at our front door asking what we know about Dread.”
Kiwi Talkz: “Really?!”
Walker: “Oh yeah. On a few occasions we’d get people knocking on the door who were big Metroid Prime fans who wanted a tour or who had some questions, wanted to get a bet and so on. It was fun.”
KT: “Would you let them in?”
Walker: “Usually they got to the lobby and that was as far as we could take them.”
KT: “Is it because of that message that was in Prime 3? I think I remember Mark Pacini (lead designer – Prime series) saying it was a coincidence.”
Walker: “Absolute coincidence. We’ve said it a million times and people still refuse to believe it. As I said in an interview a long time ago, we’re just not that smart, we can’t be that subtle.”
Of course, in retrospect, it’s obvious that Retro Studios had nothing to do with Metroid Dread. The team would continue to work on two Donkey Kong Country games before finally starting development on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Meanwhile, Dread was developed by Spanish studio MercurySteam with the help of Nintendo EPD.
The full interview with Bryan Walker on the Kiwi Talkz YouTube channel is well worth a look; producer goes into development costs, his favorite boss from Prime 2, and his thoughts on how Nintendo could handle Sylux in Prime 4.
