Detective Pikachu 3DS game release date news: PEGI listing hints at Western release

The 3DS game "Detective Pikachu," which was only released in Japan, may finally be coming to North America and Europe.

On Monday, the Pan European Game Info (PEGI), which rates all video games released in Europe based on their appropriateness of different ages, officially rated the game suitable for players aged 3 and above. It is listed with a placeholder date of Dec. 31, 2020, until Nintendo announces an official date.

The posting has since been taken down, but Serebii was able to save a screencap that can be seen below.

Released as "The Great Pikachu Detective" in Japan, the game is a playful mystery solver that pairs a talking Pikachu with a young boy named Tim Goodman to solve crimes and uncover the mystery of his father's disappearance. According to reports, the game was well received in Japan when it was released last year, but went quiet for a period of time until Legendary Picture's announcement of its live-action movie adaptation.

Last week, the studio announced "Deadpool" actor Ryan Reynolds will voice the famous Pokemon that will appear alongside the human lead, to be played by "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" actor Justice Smith. "Big Little Lies" star Kathryn Newton also boarded the project in a lead role. Rob Letterman will direct the project, which is set for release on May 10, 2019.

Even though the game's release was limited to Japan, "Detective Pikachu" still made a decent following online due to the yellow critter's funny expressions and reactions. Further reports reveal that players even petitioned Nintendo to hire Danny Devito to voice Pikachu, although it did not hit its target number of signatures.

Whether Nintendo grants that request and cast Devito or stick with Reynolds for the potential international release of the game remains to be seen. Hopefully, more information will be given next month as there is reportedly a huge Nintendo Direct planned for January.