Nintendo's senior Managing Executive Officer Shinya Takahashi released a short YouTube video explaining that there’s a reason that we haven’t heard much about Metroid Prime 4 since it was announced.

The company admitted that it has been disappointed with development, and that it is now rebooting the project from the beginning with a new studio.

“Ever since the announcement, we have not been able to give you an update, but as a result of the continuing development since that time – although this is very regrettable – we must let you know that the current development progress has not reached the standard we seek in a sequel to the Metroid Prime series.”

The game was being developed by Bandai Namco, but the announcement says that current producer Kensuke Tanabe will now be working with the studio that made the original series such a hit, Retro Studios.

Production of Metroid Prime 4 is literally being restarted from the beginning, which Takahashi acknowledges will significantly delay a game that was initially announced in 2017 and was expected to be released in 2019-2020.

Nintendo is keeping its forecast for 20 million Switch shipments in the fiscal year through March, President Shuntaro Furukawa told the Sankei newspaper last week, a bullish forecast for a game console that appeared to be losing momentum.