Pikmin 4 has leaked online ahead of its release

A Pikmin 4 ROM has surfaced online, just days before the game's official release on July 21.

The details:

• Fans of the franchise should take caution to avoid spoilers until the game is released tomorrow on Nintendo Switch, as it has been reported that a full copy of the game is now circulating on the internet, resulting in some players grabbing pre-release screenshots and footage as well as posting story and gameplay information on social media and content sharing sites like YouTube.
• This is yet another case of Nintendo's first-party titles being illegally shared before their official release, with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom being a notable example. It's believed that, as with many other pre-release game leaks, physical copies have landed in the hands of pirates before they're stocked on shelves, and given that this happens for the majority of major Nintendo games, it could be the same group.
• Even though almost every game released by the company appears to be leaked, Nintendo takes piracy and the protection of its copywritten content very seriously. It applied for a subpoena to force Discord to turn over the personal information of the person responsible for leaking the art book for Tears of the Kingdom in April, defeated a file hosting service in court for failing to remove pirated games, targeted a YouTuber for showcasing Zelda mods, and, most notably, assisted in securing a sentence for a Switch hacker that included paying the company 25-30% of his income for the rest of his life.

More Nintendo news:

• In Japan, the Nintendo Switch had its best June sales since its launch in 2017. The release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in May, as well as several high-profile Nintendo announcements, including two new Mario titles, are thought to have contributed to the sudden increase in sales.
• Microsoft has revealed that a Nintendo Switch successor could arrive as early as 2024, affirming previous rumors and reports that Nintendo was planning a new console after the Switch's six years on the market.