I really hope Metroid Prime 4 gets a 2024 release on the Switch.  If Nintendo is needing to rely on this title to keep up momentum, they are going to throw so much marketing at it that it might actually have a shot at breaking 5 million.  I'd possibly be even more bullish, considering the Switch effect, but this is Metroid and I've learned the hard lesson that it will forever be a niche franchise, despite its outsized impact on the videogame landscape.

5 million would be amazing! Why is it such a niche franchise? 
Is it the lack of multiplayer? Aimed at a more “mature” audience? Too difficult?

Legend of Zelda could be considered a niche franchise too, before the Switch it couldn’t sell above 10m on a single platform (Twilight was able to from both Wii and GCN).

On the home console Animal Crossing was a niche franchise before New Horizons. Though handheld (DS & 3DS) it was able to reach 10m.

Metroid just needs that one game to break it out if it’s niche shell.

When did Rol create this thread? I do remember when Rol made it but can't remember the year?

I mean you can't really call zelda niche back before 2008 you rarely had games hit that 20 million mark zelda was a heavy hitter back then because it was more rare. You could argue that pre botw and post 2008 it was when the 20m seller was becoming more normal, but at best that would be a ten year period where zelda wasn't as wide reaching as other titles.

It was created 2 years ago.

hold off on celebrations, we're not there yet...

Often, the first few posts of a thread are after the original post. There was a hack in 2022 which deleted some of the user's original posts on the threads (I was affected too). Therefore, by the first few posts on page 1 we can see that the original post was created at the beginning of February 2022.

Metroid is niche relative to other Nintendo franchises mainly because it's atmosphere isn't very approachable or appealing for the broad market. Games like Mario & Zelda have bright colors, lively worlds and characters with personality, and at least some sort of story.

Metroid isn't like that, Metroid is very dark, isolated, and doesn't have that many characters or much of a story, it makes the game appear less interesting to play being in such a dark and isolated environment and I'm sure it scares off a good deal of more casual players. It was part of the reason I was a bit reluctant to try out Metroid at first because it's atmosphere just seemed too boring and dark for me.

Also, I imagine that Metroid's gameplay isn't very accessible either, it's very easy to get lost in the game and figure out what to do next since it's a game that require alot of exploration and backtracking across these huge worlds which could turn off many players as well. Mario & Zelda are a bit easier in guiding the player towards the right direction than Metroid.

And tbh, as long as Metroid stays in its current direction it'll always remain niche, people keep making the argument that Metroid could be big with better chances and marketing like Mario/Zelda but at this point it should be pretty clear that Metroid has had more than enough great chances to become big but failed to do so. Prime 3 released on the Wii's huge 100M install base and barely cracked 1 Million sold. Metroid Dread barely sold 3 Million on a 140M+ Switch install base and Prime remastered sold barely 1M as well. Even on GC after Prime 1 sold a pretty good 2.84M on a smaller install base, sales of Prime 2 would fall off a cliff compared to Prime 1 barely selling 1 Million, which gives me the indication that Prime 1 didn't impress many of the players enough for them to return to the sequels, as that's just the nature of Metroid, and there's nothing wrong with that I love Metroid the way it is even if it's not a franchise that'll appeal to many people, it's isolation and atmosphere are part of the reason I love the game so much as a unique experience.

I see Prime 4 selling around 5 Million at best.

I agree, I was just wondering why other's aren't fond of it. It makes a lot of sense. But having a Metroid game being a launch title would give it a wonderful boost, though MP4 won't be a successor launch title (maybe a different console that can happen).

I think many independent standing and puzzle solving people are the ones that would be buying into the Metroid franchise. I see MP4 selling around 4.3M.

Metroid Prime on the Gamecube is still the best selling first person Metroid game. It reviewed very well, it was something brand new and many people gave it a try.

It's sequal though, only 2 years after the first one, sold halve. And even on the big seller wii, the third entry could not recover to the first ones sales levels. And even considered the best, reviewing great and priced at $40, Prime Remaster just made a few over 1 million.

I think typical Nintendo games buyers are simply not into first person games much. Nintendo barely makes them. First person games are notoriously unpopular in Japan.

I think the fandom is louder then the reality in the market. I guess a Prime4 could do 2.5 million perhaps. I hope I'm wrong and it would do better, but I'm skeptical.