Castlevania Dev Denies Pitching a New Metroid Game for Wii U/3DS

Last summer, there was a report that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow developer MercurySteam pitched Nintendo on a new Metroid game for Wii U and 3DS. As it turns out, this apparently never happened.

"That's more bulls**t," co-founder Enric Alvarez told Eurogamer. "People have a lot of imagination and time to think about stuff, but that's not necessarily the truth."

He went on to say that this rumor may have stemmed from an interview around the time that the studio finished Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate for the 3DS. "While doing an interview, somebody asked us about what other game we would like to do, and I think the Metroid thing came from that," he said. "Or it was about the Metroid influences in Mirror of Fate. The rest is pure invention."

The newest Metroid game was this summer's Metroid Prime: Federation Force for 3DS. The game was criticized after its announcement in part because series hero Samus does not show up as a playable character. Nintendo executive Reggie Fils-Aime addressed the negative criticism, asking fans to trust the company to deliver a fresh, new experience. The game came out in August behind a tepid critical reception.

Alvarez's comments came from Eurogamer's wide-ranging interview feature that also includes commentary from producer Dave Cox. He worked on the Castlevania franchise before leaving Konami in 2014 after 17 years. He is now a freelance producer and consultant, working with MercurySteam on its new multiplayer game, Raiders of the Broken Planet.

Also in the interview, Cox said the new Contra game that Konami started teasing in 2011 never got very far. There were "early discussions" about making the game, and the "basic idea was drawn up." However, the project never moved past that phase, and MercurySteam's relationship with Konami ended.

After working with the Japanese publisher on its Castlevania: Lords of Shadow games, the studio is self-publishing Raiders of the Broken Planet.

The full interview is incredibly in-depth and fascinating, touching on the critical reaction to Lords of Shadow 2 and more. Go read it here.