If you've been waiting for the next 2D Metroid since finishing Metroid Dread, the wait now has an end date. Nintendo dropped a full reveal trailer for Metroid Ravenous during the September 9 Nintendo Direct, confirming it as the next side-scrolling Samus adventure and locking in a release date of January 28, 2027, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.
The announcement caps off years of fan speculation. A 2D follow-up to Dread had been rumored well before Metroid Prime 4 even shipped, and a Brazilian ratings board leak earlier this year put the name Ravenous on everyone's radar. Now it's real, it has a trailer, and it's arriving in just over four months.
What the trailer actually tells us
The Ravenous reveal trailer doesn't hide its connection to Dread. Samus appears in armor that looks nearly identical to the fully-upgraded suit she earned at the end of that game, all alien-green and chitinous. The setting drops her into a deep subterranean superstructure, labyrinthian in layout, where she works through one-on-one confrontations with enemies and larger boss encounters.
Here's the thing that immediately stood out: the EMMI robots that made Dread so tense are gone, replaced by a group of hooded, robotic-looking aliens who seem to be filling that same predatory role. They drop Samus into this underground environment deliberately, which suggests the story is picking up threads from where Dread left off rather than starting fresh.
Samus also talks. A lot, by her standards. She narrated portions of the Ravenous trailer in full sentences, which is a significant departure from her usual silence. She spoke briefly in Dread's final sequence in the Chozo language, but extended narration hasn't happened since Metroid Other M. Whether that signals a bigger storytelling shift for the series or just a trailer-specific choice, it's impossible to ignore.
Dread's shadow looms large over Ravenous
Metroid Dread launched in October 2021 and sold 3 million copies, making it the best-selling entry in the franchise's history at that point. That's the bar Ravenous is being measured against, and the trailer suggests Nintendo and developer MercurySteam (presumed, given their work on Dread) understand exactly what made that game work.
The tense one-on-one combat, the claustrophobic underground environments, the sense that Samus is genuinely outmatched early on and has to claw her way back to full power. All of it reads as deliberate continuity rather than a soft reboot. If you played through Dread and wanted more of that exact feeling, Ravenous looks like it's built for you.
Nintendo also confirmed that a Metroid Ravenous Special Edition and a new amiibo lineup will launch alongside the game on January 28, 2027. No pricing details have been confirmed yet for either.
Five years is a long time to wait
From Dread's October 2021 launch to Ravenous' January 2027 release, that's over five years between mainline 2D Metroid games. For context, the gap between Metroid Fusion and Dread was nearly two decades. Five years feels almost generous by series standards, but it's still a long stretch for fans who wanted that next chapter immediately after Dread's credits rolled.
The January window is interesting too. Nintendo is clearly confident in Ravenous as a standalone system seller for Switch 2 in the early part of 2027. Launching in late January avoids the holiday rush while still capitalizing on new console momentum.
What most players miss in the lead-up to a new Metroid is just how much the previous game sets the tone. Dread's control scheme, its EMMI mechanics, and its tight map design all defined expectations. Brushing up on Dread's systems and story before January is worth your time. The Metroid Dread guide collection at GAMES.GG covers everything from boss strategies to ability unlock order if you need a refresher before Ravenous arrives.
January 2027 is closer than it feels
Metroid Ravenous has a date, a trailer, and a clear narrative throughline connecting it to Dread. Nintendo's September 9 Direct gave fans exactly what they'd been asking for, and the early 2027 window means the wait is genuinely short by Metroid standards.
The trailer is out now and worth watching multiple times. There's a lot packed into it. In the meantime, our full gaming guides hub has everything you need to stay sharp across Nintendo's current lineup while the countdown to January runs.
