Pikmin 4 Release Date Potentially Leaked

It looks like the release date for Pikmin 4 could have just leaked online prior to an official announcement from Nintendo. Based on what we currently know, Nintendo's lineup of exclusives for Switch is a bit slimmer in 2023 compared to past years. While Nintendo came out of the gate firing this year with Fire Emblem: Engage, the only other major first-party games of note on the horizon for Switch happen to be The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Pikmin 4. And even though Tears of the Kingdom already has a firm release date, it looks like Pikmin 4 could be close behind. 

According to Greece retailer Game Explorers, Pikmin 4 is now slated to release later this year on May 26th. It's not known where this date came from, but May 26th does happen to fall on a Friday, which is more often than not the day of the week that Nintendo releases new first-party games. Although this date should be taken with a big grain of salt for the time being, we have seen retailers leak dates like this in the past, which means there could be some validity to this situation. 

Likely the biggest reason why this potential launch date for Pikmin 4 makes little sense is because it's so close to the release date of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. For those unaware, Tears of the Kingdom is set to arrive on Nintendo Switch on May 12, 2023. With this in mind, it seems a bit baffling that Nintendo would look to release two of its biggest exclusives of the year within a two-week span. Still, crazier things have happened in the past, so perhaps this isn't outside of the realm of possibility. 

Do you think there's any chance that Pikmin 4 could end up releasing on this May 2023 release date? And if not, when do you expect the game to finally hit store shelves? Give me your own best guess either down in the comments or hit me up on Twitter at @MooreMan12.

[H/T Go Nintendo]