Metroid Ravenous Officially Announced for Nintendo Switch 2 — Release Date, Amiibo, and Everything We Know

We knew something was cooking. The Brazilian ratings board leak a while back had Metroid fans cautiously hopeful, and now it’s confirmed — Metroid Ravenous is officially a thing, it’s dropping exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on January 28, 2027, and honestly the trailer alone is enough to have every 2D Metroid fan absolutely losing their mind right now. This one came out of the Nintendo Direct like a speed booster dash through a sealed door, and the energy in the room is completely unhinged in the best way.

What Is Metroid Ravenous?

Metroid Ravenous is the next mainline 2D Metroid game and, from everything we’ve seen so far, it’s a direct sequel to Metroid Dread — picking up the story thread of Samus’s growing connection to Metroid biology that Dread left dangling at its conclusion. The game carries on the 2.5D visual style MercurySteam nailed in Dread, with those full-3D cutscenes punctuating the action, gorgeous environments, and that slick, aggressive movement that made Dread such a joy to play.

The setup this time? Samus gets ambushed and stranded on a mysterious subterranean moon by a group of enemies that appear to be Chozo warriors clad in black samurai-style armor — and yes, they manage to pierce her Power Suit, which is not something you see happen to Samus very often. Her energy gets drained. Her powers get stripped. Classic Metroid opener, but with a noticeably darker, more personal edge to it.

What comes next is where things get genuinely wild. Rather than just gradually recovering her abilities through exploration like usual, Samus in Ravenous seems to be actively feeding on her enemies to restore her strength. We see her literally devouring a creature in the trailer — crazed glint in her eyes, the works — punctuated by the line that’s already being quoted everywhere: “It’s eat or be eaten.” The game is called Ravenous. They are not being subtle about the theme here, and it rules.

Metroid Ravenous

This Is a Darker, More Aggressive Samus — And She’s Speaking Again

One of the biggest talking points from the trailer is the fact that Samus Aran is talking. Like, actual voiced dialogue in the moment, not just log entries or internal monologue. The last time that happened in a mainline game was Metroid Other M back on the Wii, which had a notoriously divisive reception — but the vibe here feels completely different. This isn’t Other M’s controversial approach to characterization. This is Samus sounding like someone who has been through everything Dread put her through and come out the other side as something more dangerous than she went in.

The narrative is leaning hard into what Samus became at the end of Dread — her fusion with Metroid DNA is clearly at the center of both the story and the mechanics. The biomechanical suit pulsing with green energy, the draining abilities, the hunger — it’s all connected. Ravenous seems to be building a version of Samus that’s more powerful, more predatory, and walking a moral edge that the series hasn’t really explored before. That’s a genuinely exciting creative direction for a franchise that’s always handled its lore carefully.

The Gameplay: Dread’s DNA With New Tricks

From what the trailer shows, the counter-heavy, melee-focused combat that made Dread feel so impossibly slick is back and even more refined. Samus can counter enemy grapples mid-fight, drain enemies with a dedicated Drain ability, execute brutal finishing attacks, and generally wreck anything in her path with the kind of fluid aggression that Dread fans have been craving more of since 2021. It feels like MercurySteam — who haven’t been officially confirmed yet but let’s be real, it’s them — took everything that worked about Dread’s hand-to-hand systems and doubled down.

Beyond the combat, the trailer teases some genuinely interesting new movement abilities. Running on water, warping in mid-air, and transformation sequences that hint at Samus taking on new forms tied to her Metroid-hybrid nature. Whether those transform into permanent suit upgrades or situational powers remains to be seen, but the traversal toolkit already looks more expansive than what Dread offered.

• Energy drain mechanic — absorb energy from enemies to restore health and power abilities
• Upgraded melee system — counter grapples, execute finishing moves, chain close-range attacks
• Water running — new traversal ability spotted in the trailer
• Mid-air warping — another new movement tool that could completely change exploration flow
• Transformation forms — hinted at by the Metroid Suit connection from Dread’s finale

The exploration side of things is harder to read from a short reveal trailer, but if Dread’s structure is anything to go by, expect a tight, interconnected map with smartly gated progression and that addictive loop of finding a new ability and immediately thinking about fifteen doors you passed earlier that make sense now. The Metroidvania formula done right, basically.

Metroid Dread’s Success Made This Possible

Let’s talk about why this game exists and why Nintendo is clearly throwing real resources behind it. Metroid Dread shifted 2.9 million copies worldwide in its first six months — the fastest-selling Metroid game in franchise history, beating out even Metroid Prime. For a series that spent years as one of Nintendo’s most beloved but commercially frustrating franchises, that number was genuinely transformative. It proved that there was a massive audience for 2D Metroid if the game was good enough, and Dread absolutely was.

That commercial success gave MercurySteam — a relatively small studio based in Spain — both the credibility and the budget to come back for a proper follow-up. Ravenous is the result of that runway. And based on the trailer alone, it’s clear they’ve used that time and money well. This doesn’t look like a studio playing it safe with a sequel. It looks like a studio with something to say.

The Metroid series turning 40 years old in 2026 adds even more weight to this moment. Following the well-received release of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond in 2025 on the 3D side, and now Ravenous arriving in early 2027 on the 2D side, Nintendo is in a better position with the Metroid brand than it’s been in decades. That’s genuinely exciting for long-time fans who spent years wondering if the series would ever regain its momentum.

Amiibo and Special Edition Details

This is the part that’s going to hurt the wallets of Metroid collectors everywhere. Launching alongside the game on January 28, 2027 are two new amiibo figures — a standalone Samus figure and a Chozo Statue figure — both available separately. There’s also a Special Edition which bundles a physical copy of the game with a SteelBook case and an exclusive third amiibo of Samus in her Metroid Suit.

Whether that Metroid Suit Samus amiibo will eventually be sold standalone or stays Special Edition-exclusive hasn’t been confirmed yet, but Nintendo has a history of making those bundle-exclusive amiibo very hard to find later. If you want it, the smart play is probably to lock in the Special Edition pre-order sooner rather than later. Metroid amiibo sell out fast — Dread’s launch day amiibo disappeared almost instantly in 2021, and there’s no reason to expect anything different here.

Is This the Direct Sequel Dread Fans Have Been Waiting For?

Everything points to yes. The Metroid Suit from Dread’s ending appearing in the footage, the explicit focus on Samus’s Metroid-hybrid abilities, the story picking up with a new antagonist faction that seems to be reacting to what Samus has become — it all connects. This isn’t a standalone Metroid story set in an isolated corner of the timeline. This is a direct continuation of the arc that Dread started, and it’s treating the narrative weight of that game with the respect it deserves.

Metroid Ravenous drops on January 28, 2027, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2. It’s the kind of early-year release that carries a massive game calendar on its shoulders, and based on what we’ve seen, it looks more than capable of doing exactly that. The Switch 2’s launch window is already shaping up to be one of the strongest first-year lineups in Nintendo hardware history — between this, and big titles like Kirby and the World Beyond also heading to Switch 2 in Spring 2027, the platform’s future is looking very healthy.

Pre-orders open shortly after the Direct, so if you’re a Metroid fan, you already know what to do. And if you’re someone who never played Dread — go fix that immediately. It’s one of the best Nintendo games of the Switch generation and the essential foundation for understanding everything Ravenous is building on. If you’re deep in the Nintendo ecosystem and looking for more to enjoy right now, the Stage Fright co-op reveal from Ghost Town Games is also worth checking out — another exciting 2027 release from the same Direct. And for a complete change of pace, the OSRS A Ruff Situation quest is there if you need something to fill the wait.

Quick Facts — Metroid Ravenous at a Glance

• Title: Metroid Ravenous
• Developer: MercurySteam (heavily implied, not officially confirmed)
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Platform: Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive
• Release Date: January 28, 2027
• Genre: 2D action-adventure / Metroidvania
• Story connection: Direct sequel to Metroid Dread
• New mechanic: Enemy energy absorption / drain system
• Amiibo: Samus, Chozo Statue (standalone); Samus Metroid Suit (Special Edition bundle)
• Special Edition: Game + SteelBook + exclusive amiibo