In a surprising twist this morning, Nintendo made an incredibly transparent announcement . Development on Metroid Prime 4 it read , had halted and was to begin again under Retro Studios, the United States-based developer of the original Metroid Prime games.

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“ This is a remarkable turnaround, and one that fans are taking to.

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“ Transparency can lead to a more compassionate audience.

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“ Nintendo has set a good precedent for publisher transparency moving forward.

In a statement delivered by Shinya Takahashi, Nintendo’s General Manager of Planning and Development, we learned that although Nintendo found it very regrettable, the company didn’t feel the current progress of Metroid Prime 4 was up to their standards for the series. @Peeper_deeper. “ “Transparency and decency,” wrote @JLIllescas The statement would be candid for any company, but especially so for Nintendo, a notoriously tight-lipped, impenetrable company that’s rarely willing to invite us into its processes. It feels like a remarkable turnaround, and one that fans are taking to.Not every company communicates with its fans as openly and honestly as Nintendo has in this instance. It’s hard not to think of Blizzard’s disastrous announcement of mobile game Diablo: Immortal at last year’s BlizzCon, delivered to a crowd that was awaiting news of Diablo 4. “Is this an out of season April Fool’s joke?” a fan in the crowd famously asked the on-stage presenters.It’s not just the fans who benefit from more transparency. While it makes them feel valued and respected outside of a tired marketing spin, it also reminds them that games are made by humans, and humans can be fallible. Having a grasp of this lends to a more compassionate audience. “I’m all for making things more transparent so that people understand that it’s not just machines making a game but real human beings that have goals, and that features take time and aren’t just tied to a switch that can be turned on at will,” said a developer working in the triple-A space in an IGN interview last year, who we’ll call Andy.Nintendo has set a good precedent for publisher transparency moving forward. If more took a minute to talk to fans – after all, Nintendo’s bare-bones video proves it only takes a minute – maybe that bad news might be received with understanding, rather than total indignation. We’re all in it for the love of video games, after all.

Lucy O'Brien is Executive Editor of Features at IGN. Follow her on Twitter.