Pre-orders for Metroid Prime 4, which were secured at a discount on Amazon eight years ago, are now being canceled as the game is set to release in 2025.

Metroid Prime 4 is finally due to launch in 2025, some eight years after its initial announcement back in 2017. While the long-awaited sequel is closer to actually launching than ever before, it seems Amazon is taking the opportunity to go back and cancel all those ancient pre-orders.

According to posts across Reddit, Twitter, and other forms of social media like ResetEra, Amazon has begun to cancel Metroid Prime 4 pre-orders en masse. Some of those orders go as far back as the game's original announcement in 2017, and the cancellation messages simply say that the game is "out of stock."

Naturally, there has been considerable speculation regarding the reasons behind these cancellations. One of the most plausible explanations is that, due to the inconsistent availability of first-party Switch titles on Amazon in recent years, the company may struggle to ensure a reliable supply of Metroid Prime 4.

Many of these pre-orders date back to when Amazon was still offering pre-order price discounts, and they certainly came well before Nintendo had opened the $70 floodgates with Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Even if Amazon will stock Metroid Prime 4 directly, they probably won't want to honor those $48 pre-orders for a $70 game.

Of course, some folks are taking the most ridiculous position possible: that this all means Metroid Prime 4 is cancelled on Switch and will exclusively launch on Nintendo Switch 2. It's reasonable to imagine that Nintendo might release the game on both current and next-gen platforms - after all, the same thing happened with Breath of the Wild in the transition from Wii U to Switch - but folks, come on. Nintendo probably wouldn't have re-revealed Prime 4 as a Switch game just six months ago if the company was about to just cancel that version and make it next-gen only.

However, it's worth noting that Nintendo's knack for surprises has confounded even the most experienced industry experts. For the time being, think of this as a friendly reminder to check your inbox if you're still expecting your Amazon order for Metroid Prime 4.