Release Date / Game Reveal Timing Speculation and Discussion

[Chouchou]

I'm still betting on september or november.

 

[Lancelot]

While I agree that Animal Crossing most likely will get a small Direct of its own like Mario Maker 2 did, it won't be at E3. Nintendo has already confirmed that the E3 Direct will focus all software launching in 2019,

https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/d...-direct-competitions-nintendo-treehouse-live/

And as it stands, 2019 is jam packed so I doubt we'll be seeing any deep dives this time around. But you can bet there will be a half hour or so of Animal Crossing coverage during the Treehouse segments.

High key looking forward to treehouse animal crossing more than the actually direct.

 

[Roshan]

After E3 maybe

 

[Stalfos]

I've said Q4 all along, late Q3 at best, and I see no reason to change that now. 2020 release? I guess it's possible. But I wouldn't panic just yet. I believe the game is coming along just fine. If we don't hear anything by E3, then we panic. lol

 

[Sweetley]

I'm in the 2019 boat as well, but at the same time, things are looking very bloated for the end of the year, so unless they announce a slew of 2020 games at the Direct in a few weeks, they are going to need stuff to pad out the first few months of the year. Not saying that that Animal Crossing could be one of the those titles, but something inevitably is going to slip.

Stuff happens. Look at what went down with Metroid Prime 4 and the all but confirmed Metroid Prime Trilogy HD collection. It was all but confirmed to appear at The Game Awards in December, but then ended up a no-show. A month later, we got the Prime 4 developer change announcement. Sure it's unlikely something catastrophic happened since February, but it is 100% within the realm of possibility something could and Nintendo would just have to take a hit in their stock rates.

It's just good to keep an open mind is all. Hype responsibly.

Like said here, if they would delay the game, Nintendo would have had already said anything
about it. They know that Animal Crossing fans waiting for any informations, they also know
that E3 is coming and the hopes and hype of said fans are getting high. Besides, all sources
still saying 2019. Even Nintendo themself. If there would be any delay, they would have
change the 2019 into TBA already.

Also, Metroid Prime 4 had a good reason for the delay because of the developer change like
you said, Nintendo wasn't happy of how the game looked so far and that's why they wanted
to start new from the beginning. I can't imagine the same thing happen with Animal Crossing.
Pretty sure whatever team is working on AC wouldn't fail so much that Nintendo would say
"Nope, don't like that. Make that again but better".

After all, just because there are a bunch of other games doesn't mean that AC has no
chance to coming out this year too just because there aren't any news of it out. After
Mario Maker 2 got it's own Direct and Smash doesn't need like the half of the Direct time
anymore to announce something new, with that, they have enough time now to cover AC
on the E3. Also, who said that they can't be two games coming out in one month? Let's
say one game comes out at the beginning of a month and the other one at the end of
that month. Pretty sure that this would work too. For example: Animal Crossing comes
out at the beginning of October and Luigi's Mansion 3 at the end of October (because
Helloween). Guess fans wouldn't drop the one game for the other one, people can play
more then just one game.

I believe in a 2019 release. Not because I can't wait any longer for that game (I'm honest
here), but also because there are no reasons right now for a delay. And who knows? Maybe
Nintendo never wanted to announce the game back then in September 2018? Maybe they
wanted to announce it in that Direct from February 2019 with gameplay and planned to
show more of it at the E3? And the only reason of why they dropped that information
back then was because of Isabelle getting into Smash, which was about to come out
a few months later and Nintendo knew that AC fans would ask where a new AC game
for the Switch is? Maybe they wanted to keep the hype with this? And now they have
to change the plans and announce all informations on E3? I don't know, I guess there
are reasons why it is how it is. All we can do now is waiting, as much as it sucks.

 

[lars708]

Like said here, if they would delay the game, Nintendo would have had already said anything
about it.

What is this based on? Games without specific release dates can be delayed at any time, this has happened before so it's not something new... I personally think they know what they're doing and I believe that it's still coming in 2019 but saying that it can't be delayed because ''Nintendo would have already said anything about it'' is not proof that it will.

It's important to remember that people are making the game. People make mistakes. What if some kind of game breaking bug is in the game and they're having a hard time finding out the cause? Problems like that have delayed games for months before and it can happen anytime during the development.

 

[Blue Cup]

For the record, I personally am not saying that Animal Crossing is going to get delayed so I don't want anyone @ing me when the date gets revealed. All I'm saying is that it's best to proceed with caution simply because Nintendo hasn't clarified one way or the other if their 2019 reaffirmation is calendar or fiscal based.

And the argument that "Nintendo would have said something" is kinda weightless as they haven't even acknowledged the games existence outside of the logo being on a slide from the February investors meeting. Fire Emblem had some long bouts of silence as well, then when it reappeared last year at the E3 Direct, it got hit with a new 2019 release window.

Nothing is impossible. Approach E3 with an open mind and you'll be good.

 

[Pellie]

How was it actually with New Leaf? Or the other AC games? Like, how did the procedure
of the announcement until the release looked like? Did Nintendo also just said on a Direct
or somewhere else that a new AC game will coming out for said console and took so long
till they showed the first gameplay of it or said more about it in general? I'm just wondering
if Nintendo back then made also such a mystery about a AC game like they do now with
the Switch one.

 

[Justin]

How was it actually with New Leaf? Or the other AC games? Like, how did the procedure
of the announcement until the release looked like? Did Nintendo also just said on a Direct
or somewhere else that a new AC game will coming out for said console and took so long
till they showed the first gameplay of it or said more about it in general? I'm just wondering
if Nintendo back then made also such a mystery about a AC game like they do now with
the Switch one.

When New Leaf was first revealed, we did get some early screenshots right away, but the game did go through similar lengthy periods of time without any updates like this game has.

When we finally did more concrete information and release timing, it actually came out of a Japanese Nintendo Direct just a month or so after E3 where it didn't appear at all... But that was a special case where the game was delayed outside of Japan (although we didn't know that yet at the time so it was really confusing and annoying), so I think they just didn't want to show it to non-Japanese audiences at E3.

Although now that I'm thinking about it, maybe we shouldn't rule out a similar possibility this year. A no-show at E3 with an appearance in a Direct slightly later that is, not a Japan-only release. E3 is still not really ideal for the Japanese audience especially with so much information coming out of the English Treehouse streams.

 

[acornavenue]

19 days!

 

[Blue Cup]

When New Leaf was first revealed, we did get some early screenshots right away, but the game did go through similar lengthy periods of time without any updates like this game has.

When we finally did more concrete information and release timing, it actually came out of a Japanese Nintendo Direct just a month or so after E3 where it didn't appear at all... But that was a special case where the game was delayed outside of Japan (although we didn't know that yet at the time so it was really confusing and annoying), so I think they just didn't want to show it to non-Japanese audiences at E3.

Ah yes, the E3 2012 Conference. What a horrible time to be a Nintendo fan. They were bragging about New Super Mario Bros. 2 coin grabbing fest, Dark Sun and Pikmin 3 with the Wii U. They only announced/talked about 10 games total over an hour and ten minutes and their one last thing was a fireworks show in NintendoLand... I had never been more disappointed by a conference ever than I was for that. Insult to injury was when New Leaf later didn't even reappear until February 2013, months after the Japanese launch.

Although now that I'm thinking about it, maybe we shouldn't rule out a similar possibility this year. A no-show at E3 with an appearance in a Direct slightly later that is, not a Japan-only release. E3 is still not really ideal for the Japanese audience especially with so much information coming out of the English Treehouse streams.

Absolutely within the realm of possibility. I wonder though, how exactly DO companies handle E3 news in Japan? I know CoroCoro covers Pokemon. They're even hyping up new news for Sword and Shield in the next issue, which comes out in mid June. But I never thought about how they convey this news to other countries.

They will absolutely have to give everyone a reason if Animal Crossing ends up being a no-show again. They can't and shouldn't go silent if this ends up coming to pass.

 

[WeiMoote]

I agree. Heck, the creator of Pokemon even had to step in and tell everyone that a new main-series game was coming in a Direct when it was a no-show a few years ago. And even the producer for Metroid 4 even announced that they were starting production over.

At least the best they can do is have someone calm the masses down, in the off-chance the game is a no show in a few weeks.

 

[watercolorwish]

its wild to think ive aged 6 years since it came out. i dont necessarily think its been a long time since the release of new leaf, but i do feel, personally, ive aged. and i think thats whats tripping me and most fans out and why we're impatient. im one year from graduating high school and i got new leaf forever ago. wack wack wack WACK. I just hope to god i wont have to worry about applying to colleges while maintaining my town

 

[Stevey Queen]

All this talk about a delay and/or a no show at e3 is depressing.

 

[Kamzitty]

its wild to think ive aged 6 years since it came out. i dont necessarily think its been a long time since the release of new leaf, but i do feel, personally, ive aged. and i think thats whats tripping me and most fans out and why we're impatient. im one year from graduating high school and i got new leaf forever ago. wack wack wack WACK. I just hope to god i wont have to worry about applying to colleges while maintaining my town

Omg yes. 6 years is a loooong time, especially since AC’s target group is youth and teens, and so much in your life can change throughout those years. I used to have so much more free time, and would have loved a new AC game YEARS ago, when I was still in high school. Now Im graduated with a job and hardly have the time for video games anymore. It’s sad how long we’ve waited for his new AC game, honestly. I hope it’s worth the wait and we get some more news soon!!

 

[Justin]

its wild to think ive aged 6 years since it came out. i dont necessarily think its been a long time since the release of new leaf, but i do feel, personally, ive aged. and i think thats whats tripping me and most fans out and why we're impatient. im one year from graduating high school and i got new leaf forever ago. wack wack wack WACK. I just hope to god i wont have to worry about applying to colleges while maintaining my town

It's going to be really something on this forum with the number of people who joined here at age 13-15 when they got New Leaf, and now they'll be returning as grown-up adults.

 

[Jacob]

It's going to be really something on this forum with the number of people who joined here at age 13-15 when they got New Leaf, and now they'll be returning as grown-up adults.

Dang this reminded me that I was 14 when I joined TBT and I'm turning 19 in about a month... oh my god

I'm so excited for E3, I would be floored if AC switch got delayed. I'm pretty much expecting a late December release.

 

[DJStarstryker]

It's going to be really something on this forum with the number of people who joined here at age 13-15 when they got New Leaf, and now they'll be returning as grown-up adults.

Or, even worse, they were already adults and so now are "old". LOL

 

[Justin]

I kind of regret not making the poll options by each individual month instead of the large groupings, would make it a lot more interesting. Would you guys like to see it remade again with that or is that too much? Still just under three weeks until E3 so might as well maybe!

 

[Pellie]

I kind of regret not making the poll options by each individual month instead of the large groupings, would make it a lot more interesting. Would you guys like to see it remade again with that or is that too much? Still just under three weeks until E3 so might as well maybe!

Personally, I would like it to see a poll with each individual month, as I'm curious which month is
right now the more "popular" one for a possible release.