Kensuke Tanabe, a producer at Nintendo known for his work on Metroid Prime, is seemingly retiring from the company.

This news reportedly comes from an interview published in Nintendo Dream magazine, posted online by a user on the Weibo forum. In this article, Tanabe reportedly says that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is his final game for the company, and that any future Metroid Prime games will be produced by Risa Tabata, who has also worked on the Metroid Prime series along with other Nintendo franchises. Tanabe has been with Nintendo for over 40 years at the time of this article’s publishing.

The interview also includes several tidbits about Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, including the following:

• The “Beyond” subtitle was chosen to signify the importance of “across time and space” in the game
• Following Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s success and request from fans for an open-world Metroid, Tanabe decided to see if such an approach could be used for the next Prime game
  the open world idea paved the way for Samus’ motorcycle in Beyond
• During the development of Metroid Prime Hunters, Tanabe specifically requested that Sylux’s backstory not be completely fleshed out, as he wanted to explore that idea in a future Metroid title
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was conceived as the “first installment of the Sylux Saga”
• With Beyond, Tanabe wanted to leave players hesitant and conflicted up to the very last moment before pressing the A button to end the game
• Tanabe anticipated some negative reactions to the game’s end, but he says he’s more likely to be impressed by movies that leave a lasting impression, like a thorn in your side, so he aimed to achieve that in Metroid
• The devs planned several events that would have deepened the bond with the Galactic Federation members, but had to cut them due to time constraints, which Tanabe really regrets

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