{"id":7100,"date":"2026-08-03T22:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T14:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/metroid-40th-anniversary-ravenous-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T22:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T14:25:09","slug":"metroid-40th-anniversary-ravenous-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/metroid-40th-anniversary-ravenous-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Metroid Turns 40 This Thursday \u2014 and Ravenous Is Lurking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The original <em>Metroid<\/em> launched on the Famicom in Japan on <strong>August 6, 1986<\/strong>. This Thursday, Samus Aran&#8217;s franchise turns 40 \u2014 and a Brazilian government rating document quietly filed on June 30, 2026 suggests the next chapter, <strong>Metroid: Ravenous<\/strong>, is already well into development at Nintendo of America.<\/p>\n<h2>Forty Years of Samus Aran<\/h2>\n<p>Few Nintendo franchises have had a career as uneven \u2014 and as rewarding \u2014 as Metroid. The original NES game was a landmark of atmosphere and non-linear exploration at a time when almost no other action game trusted players to find their own way. Super Metroid (1994) is still cited by developers as one of the greatest games ever made. Metroid Dread (2021) ended a 19-year gap in the 2D series and walked away with The Game Awards&#8217; Action Game of the Year. And Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which released in December 2025, gave fans a full-scale first-person sequel after a development journey that stretched nearly a decade.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/metroid-nes-1986.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Samus in the original 1986 NES Metroid\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"><figcaption>Image courtesy of Nintendo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Forty years on, Samus Aran remains one of gaming&#8217;s most compelling silent protagonists \u2014 a bounty hunter who says almost nothing and survives everything. The franchise has never been Nintendo&#8217;s biggest seller, but its fandom is dedicated, and the back-to-back wins of Dread and Prime 4 have the series in better shape than it&#8217;s been in decades.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gt-video\">\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0R_e6GdaOwE\" title=\"Metroid Prime 4: Beyond \u2013 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition \u2014 Launch Trailer\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;\" allow=\"accelerometer;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture;web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption>Metroid Prime 4: Beyond \u2013 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition \u2014 Launch Trailer \u2014 via Nintendo of America on YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>The Leaked Document \u2014 What It Confirms<\/h2>\n<p>On June 30, 2026, Brazil&#8217;s Secretaria Nacional de Direitos Digitais (SEDIGI) \u2014 the government body that rates games and media for age-appropriateness \u2014 issued an administrative order classifying a product called <strong>Metroid Ravenous<\/strong>. The document, spotted and circulated before being removed from the ratings board&#8217;s public listing, identifies Nintendo of America as both the creator and distributor, gives the game a <strong>12+ age rating<\/strong>, and lists violence as its primary content descriptor. The production year is given as 2026.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/metroid-ravenous-brazil-rating.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"The official Brazilian government document classifying Metroid Ravenous with a 12+ age rating\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"><figcaption>The Brazilian Ministry of Justice (SEDIGI) classification document for Metroid Ravenous, issued June 30, 2026. Image via Twistedvoxel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A few details stand out. The &#8220;interactive elements&#8221; field reads <em>n\u00e3o se aplica<\/em> \u2014 not applicable \u2014 which in the Brazilian ratings framework means no in-game purchases or randomised loot mechanics. That&#8217;s consistent with Nintendo&#8217;s standard first-party game model. The fact that the document names Nintendo of America specifically, rather than a Japanese parent entity or a third-party publisher, points to this being a mainline Nintendo release headed for a global market.<\/p>\n<p>Nintendo has not officially announced or acknowledged Metroid: Ravenous. The Brazilian ratings board listing was removed after it surfaced, though the document itself is public record. Ratings board leaks of this kind \u2014 an official classification filed before the game is announced \u2014 have accurately predicted real games in the past. They can also occasionally surface test submissions or placeholder entries, so the standard caveat applies: until Nintendo says so, this is a very credible lead rather than a confirmed launch.<\/p>\n<h2>How Far Along Is Ravenous?<\/h2>\n<p>According to a follow-up report by <a href=\"https:\/\/twistedvoxel.com\/metroid-ravenous-could-be-real-as-nintendo-reportedly-submitted-41-minutes-of-rating-content\/\">Twisted Voxel<\/a>, Nintendo reportedly submitted approximately <strong>41 minutes of gameplay footage<\/strong> as part of the classification process. Ratings bodies typically review representative gameplay segments to assign age descriptors, so 41 minutes of footage suggests a game in post-production or very late development \u2014 not a title that&#8217;s years away.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/metroid-dread-samus-artwork.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Official artwork of Samus in the Metroid Dread suit, surrounded by alien creatures\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"><figcaption>Image courtesy of Nintendo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The document gives no platform information, and Nintendo has not confirmed whether Metroid: Ravenous is a 2D or 3D title. Given that Metroid Dread was the last 2D entry and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond arrived relatively recently, either direction is plausible. The title&#8217;s word \u2014 <em>Ravenous<\/em> \u2014 evokes something predatory and hungry, which fits comfortably with the franchise&#8217;s atmosphere of isolation and survival. Beyond that, everything else is speculation until Nintendo decides to show its hand.<\/p>\n<h2>What Switch 2 Owners Should Know<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/metroid-prime-4-beyond.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Samus in her golden Varia suit in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"><figcaption>Image courtesy of Nintendo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you haven&#8217;t played <em>Metroid Prime 4: Beyond<\/em> yet, it&#8217;s available on both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 from major game retailers and the Nintendo eShop. The Switch 2 edition runs at higher resolution and includes several technical upgrades. It was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendo.com\/us\/store\/products\/metroid-prime-4-beyond-switch\/\">received warmly<\/a>, even if reviews noted some uneven pacing in the late game.<\/p>\n<p>Whether Nintendo marks August 6 with a Metroid: Ravenous reveal remains to be seen \u2014 the company hasn&#8217;t telegraphed any anniversary event publicly. But with a game already rated and (reportedly) nearly ready, Singapore fans who loved Dread and Prime 4 probably don&#8217;t have too much longer to wait. Keep an eye on the <a href=\"\/blog\/category\/game-news\/\">Game News section<\/a> for the moment Nintendo makes it official.<\/p>\n<p><!--GT-SCOUT source=\"Web (English)\" theme=\"Video games\" flags=\"none\"--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Metroid hits its 40th birthday on August 6. A Brazilian government rating document confirms a new game called Metroid: Ravenous is already in development at Nintendo of America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":7095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[11],"tags":[1047,55,45],"class_list":["post-7100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-news","tag-metroid","tag-nintendo","tag-nintendo-switch-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/metroid-dread-samus.png?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p13AlF-1Qw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":370,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/microsoft-kinect-is-it-worth-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":7100,"position":0},"title":"Microsoft Kinect, Is it worth it?","date":"November 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, I have been wanting to purchase a new console. \u00a0I already have a PS3, so what I am comparing is basically the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox. 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Pre-order on the Singapore eShop now.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Game News&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/rhg_featured.jpg?fit=820%2C461&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5613,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/white-cat-project-infinity-nintendo-switch-2-2027\/","url_meta":{"origin":7100,"position":4},"title":"White Cat Project INFINITY Announced for Nintendo Switch 2 \u2014 After Eight Years, Colopl&#8217;s Hit Finally Goes Console","date":"July 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Colopl's White Cat Project INFINITY is coming to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 in 2027, with 50+ characters and a new Character Link system \u2014 the first console entry for the beloved Japanese mobile RPG.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Game News&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/white-cat-project-infinity-key-art.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5354,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/rhythm-heaven-groove-japan-sales-record-393k-first-week\/","url_meta":{"origin":7100,"position":5},"title":"Rhythm Heaven Groove Tops Japan Charts With a Franchise-Best 393K First Week","date":"July 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Rhythm Heaven Groove sold 393,378 copies in its first week in Japan \u2014 a franchise record \u2014 debuting at #1 and outselling any previous entry by more than double.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Game News&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/rhg_featured_mopdancers.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}