10 Video Games You Didn't Realise Secretly Bombed

By Jack Pooley /

1. Metroid: Samus Returns

Nintendo

Despite being one of Nintendo's flagship franchises, Metroid has never been much of a seller, enduring largely due to its critical success and the sheer passion of the fandom.

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Even so, when Metroid: Samus Returns was announced for a 2017 release on the Nintendo 3DS, a platform with an install base of over 75 million, there wasn't much reason to be concerned about its prospects. And because it's not exactly a card-carrying AAA game, its commercial failure largely fell under the radar.

At last report, it's estimated that Samus Returns ended up selling only around 600,000 units worldwide across physical and digital platforms, making it one of the worst-selling games in the franchise and an absolute commercial dud.

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Given that this marks the third straight flop in a row for the Metroid series, following Other M and the wretched Federation Force, Nintendo is surely crossing all their fingers and toes that the upcoming Metroid Prime 4 finally breaks the streak.