Spanish studio MercurySteam – the developer of Metroid Dread – seems to be the studio behind yesterday’s Nintendo Direct showcase stopper, Metroid Ravenous.
Questions were raised after the Direct showcase because, despite the obvious visual similarities between Metroid Dread and Ravenous, MercurySteam’s name did not appear in the Ravenous trailer or on any associated press gumpf. MercurySteam’s social accounts were also quiet following the event.
I sought clarification from Nintendo and from MercurySteam this morning because of this, but heard nothing back – though this silence is not unusual for Nintendo, which often doesn’t disclose developers until close to a game’s release.
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Nonetheless, MercurySteam appears to have ended speculation today by retweeting yesterday’s Metroid Ravenous trailer with a ninja emoji and a heart emoji, presumably signalling some kind of stealth development situation. The same trailer was shared on LinkedIn by the company moments ago as well.
Metroid Ravenous seems to closely follow the Metroid Dread template, offering a side-on Metroid adventure, albeit one that plays with perspective a lot. Ravenous appears more colourful and less oppressive than Dread, and its montage of energetic gameplay lit-up Nintendo’s Direct yesterday afternoon.
2021’s Metroid Dread scored a golden Essential badge in Eurogamer’s review, with Martin Robinson calling it “a stylish, visually sumptuous return for 2D Metroid, and an adventure that proudly sits alongside the series’ best”.
Since then, MercurySteam – known for the Castlevania Lords of Shadow games – worked on an original game idea called Blades of Fire, which reviewed pretty well, but ultimately “underperformed”, putting financial pressure on the company that forced restructuring and layoffs a couple of months ago. It’s good to see the studio back in action again.
Metroid Ravenous is being released exclusively for Switch 2 on 28th January 2027.