Well, here's the good and bad news. There is some information on the little known status of Metroid Prime 4. The bad news, it seems that the project still lacks a complete staff, as it's still looking for a lead producer to aid in heading the project. Retro Studios posted on Twitter stating the position is currently open, along with a link to their careers page, which has a staggering number of jobs open, including Boss/A.I. designer, Senior Level Designer, and Lead Graphics Engineer.

Announced back at E3 in June of 2017 in a 43 second trailer that only had..., well, text..., it was understandable that production was incredibly early, if happening at all. Fans wouldn't mind being patient, as this was the freshly launched Nintendo Switch's first E3 Prior to this, waiting for more information down the road certainly wouldn't be a problem. Two calendar years had passed before the last significant news anyone had heard was the project was scrapped due to dissatisfaction with the then current build of Metroid Prime 4 in 2019. The other news that had followed was Retro Studios had hired Kyle Hefley as its lead character artist. Hefley has art credits with the Halo series and Marvel Alliance 2.

Kensuke Tanabe, who has been a producer on the Prime series, is still on the project, yet it goes without saying that vacancies in these spots says some ominous things about Metroid Prime 4's development cycle. Scrapping the game may not have been the news many wanted to hear, but when another year has passed with this generation riding off into the sunset, it's going to ask even more of this project to be live up to hype in wake of new hardware on the horizon. Granted, the Switch will thrive for a little while longer (providing there's some in stock for the holiday season in the midst of a pandemic) before its shortcomings become even more apparent, I don't think it will hinge entirely on Metroid Prime 4 to thrive, much less hope the hype lasts that long. Once people see any new information on Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2, that will sedate the Nintendo Switch audience until further notice. 

Metroid Prime 4 is currently in development for the Nintendo Switch.