Spanish studio MercurySteam, the developer of Metroid Dread, appears to be the studio behind yesterday’s Nintendo Direct hit, Metroid Ravenous. Questions were raised after the Direct screening because, despite the obvious visual similarities between Metroid Dread and Ravenous, MercurySteam’s name did not appear in the Ravenous trailer or any associated press commentary. MercurySteam’s social accounts were also quiet after the event. This morning I asked Nintendo and MercurySteam for clarification on this, but received no response, although this silence is not unusual for Nintendo, which often does not reveal developers until close to a game’s release. Watch on YouTube However, MercurySteam appears to have put an end to the speculation today by retweeting yesterday’s Metroid Ravenous trailer with a ninja emoji and a heart emoji, presumably indicating some kind of stealth development situation. The company also shared the same trailer on LinkedIn moments ago. Metroid Ravenous seems to follow the Metroid Dread model closely, offering a Metroid side adventure, although it plays a lot with perspective. Ravenous looks more colorful and less oppressive than Dread, and its energetic gameplay montage brightened up Nintendo’s Direct yesterday afternoon. 2021’s Metroid Dread earned a gold Essential badge in Eurogamer’s review, with Martin Robinson calling it “an elegant and visually sumptuous return for Metroid 2D, and an adventure that proudly stands alongside the best of the series.” Since then, MercurySteam, known for the Castlevania Lords of Shadow games, worked on an original game idea called Blades of Fire, which got rave reviews but ultimately “underperformed,” putting financial pressure on the company that forced restructurings and layoffs a couple of months ago. It’s good to see the studio back in action. Metroid Ravenous will launch exclusively for Switch 2 on January 28, 2027.
