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Leak allegedly reveals new ‘Animal Crossing,’ ‘Luigi’s Mansion 3’ release dates

The release dates for the new Animal Crossing and Luigi’s Mansion 3 for the Nintendo Switch were allegedly leaked by a U.K.-based retailer.

Nintendo announced two highly anticipated Nintendo Switch exclusives at a Nintendo Direct session last September. However, there has so far been no word on when they will be released.

A new leak from Base reportedly revealed when the games will arrive to the Nintendo Switch, after it updated its listings for the new Animal Crossing and Luigi’s Mansion 3.

The listings, which have since been taken down, said that the new Animal Crossing will launch on September 13, while Luigi’s Mansion 3 will roll out a couple of months earlier on July 19. A new IP titled Daemon X Machina was also tagged with release date of May 24, earlier than the other two games.

The launch of Nintendo Switch exclusives are usually on Fridays, and these three alleged release dates fit that description. Gamers should remain skeptical, as there remains no official announcement from Nintendo.

There is some reason for doubt about the reliability of the leaked dates. One issue found on Base is that there are some listings with inconsistent release dates. One example is Metroid Prime 4, also a Nintendo Switch exclusive, with a release date of December 7. That appears to be impossible, as Nintendo restarted the development of the game because the previous work did not live up to expectations.

Casting another question mark on the validity of the Base information is that Animal Crossing games usually launch in November, rather than the September launch noted in the leaked release dates. Although there is the possibility that Nintendo decided to break tradition to give way to the new Pokemon RPG.

The new Animal Crossing game and Luigi’s Mansion 3 are just two of the Nintendo Switch titles that gamers are looking forward to this year. Yoshi’s Crafted World is set to launch next month, while Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order will also release within 2019.

Nintendo is said to still have some surprises in store for Nintendo Switch gamers, as there remains at least one unannounced game for the hybrid console. Speculations have included a new F-Zero game, Pikmin 4, remakes or sequels for the Earthbound series, a new Paper Mario game, and Super Mario Maker 2.

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