Nintendo Unveils Metroid Ravenous, a January 2027 Exclusive for Its New Console

Nintendo announced Metroid Ravenous, the next 2D Metroid game, during today’s Nintendo Direct. It launches January 2027 exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2.

The reveal trailer shows Samus attacked by strange enemies that drain her energy, and she appears to show a darker side of herself. “It’s eat or be eaten,” she tells an enemy at the end, with a concerning glint in her eye. The game looks like a direct sequel to Mercury Steam’s Metroid Dread.

“Only on #NintendoSwitch2,” Nintendo UK posted on X, alongside the trailer and the tagline “It’s eat…or be eaten.”

Samus Turns Dark

The trailer is brief but pointed. Samus faces a variety of foes that seem to feed on her, and the tone shifts from standard bounty-hunter business to something more unnerving. The final line of dialogue, delivered to an enemy rather than to the player, suggests a story about survival and perhaps a loss of control.

The game’s title carries that theme forward. “Ravenous” points directly at hunger, consumption and appetite, and the trailer makes that literal: the enemies take Samus’s energy, and Samus herself seems changed by the encounter. The glint in her eye at the end is the kind of detail that signals a shift in character, not just a new threat to overcome.

Nintendo has not said who is developing the game, but the visual style and the direct narrative link to Dread point strongly to Mercury Steam, the studio behind that game. The previous entry in the series was praised for bringing 2D Metroid back to form, and Ravenous appears to be built on that foundation.

The Dread Connection

Metroid Dread received a 5/5 review from Martin Robinson, who called it “A stylish, visually sumptuous return for 2D Metroid, and an adventure that proudly sits alongside the series’ best.”

Ravenous looks set to continue where Dread left off. The new trailer’s emphasis on energy-draining enemies and a darker Samus suggests that thread is being pulled.

Dread was also a commercial success. The game shifted millions of copies worldwide in its first six months on sale, out-pacing the previous best-seller Metroid Prime. That performance likely gave both the developer and Nintendo room to expand the scope of the sequel.

The sales figures matter here because they changed the calculus for 2D Metroid. For years, the series was seen as a niche product, something that appealed to a dedicated core but not to a mass audience. Dread broke that pattern. It proved that a 2D Metroid could sell at the level of the series’ biggest titles, and that success is presumably why Nintendo is investing in another one so soon after.

Special Edition and Amiibo

The game will launch with a special edition that includes two new amiibo figures. The announcement did not detail what the figures look like, what they unlock in-game, or what else the special edition contains beyond the two figures.

The amiibo line has a long history with the Metroid series. Previous games have used the figures to grant extra items, energy tanks or cosmetic options, so fans will likely have questions about what these two figures do. For now, the only confirmed facts are that the special edition exists and that it comes with the figures.

Leaked in Brazil

This is not the first time Metroid Ravenous has surfaced. The game was initially leaked in a ratings board listing in Brazil.

Today’s announcement confirms the leak. The game is real, it is called Metroid Ravenous, and it is heading to Switch 2.

Ratings board listings have become a reliable source of pre-announcement information in the games industry. They are regulatory documents, not marketing materials, and they often appear months before an official reveal. In this case, the Brazilian listing pointed to the game’s existence, and the Nintendo Direct has now made it official.

Release Dates

Here is what Nintendo has confirmed:

• Title: Metroid Ravenous
• Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, exclusively
• Release date: January 28, 2027
• Special edition: Yes, including two new amiibo figures

The release window is notable. The game arrives roughly four months after its announcement, which is a relatively short turnaround for a major first-party title. That suggests the game has been in development for some time and that Nintendo felt confident enough to show it close to completion.

Dread’s Track Record

Dread was a critical high point for 2D Metroid, and it is the series’ best-selling game, out-pacing the previous best-seller Metroid Prime in sales during its first six months. That success gave Nintendo a clear signal that the 2D line has an audience.

The sequel now has a bigger platform in the Switch 2, a proven developer, and a strong commercial foundation. The question is whether Ravenous can match the quality of Dread while pushing the series somewhere new.

The trailer’s dark tone suggests the developers are not playing it safe. The emphasis on Samus’s own hunger, and the enemies that take her energy, hints at a game where the player’s resources are under constant threat. That would be a fresh angle for the series.

The trailer’s closing image is Samus speaking to an enemy. “It’s eat or be eaten,” she says. That line, and the glint in her eye, is the clearest signal yet that this is not the same Samus from previous games.

Whether that means a story about corruption, survival, or something else entirely remains to be seen.

Expect to see more soon.

Source: eurogamer.net

2D Metroid · Metroid Dread sequel · Metroid Ravenous · Nintendo Direct · Nintendo Switch 2 · Samus Aran