Release
Release date: two official dates, one day apart
Steam says Dec 9, 2026. The official product page says December 10, 2026. PS5 and Steam pre-orders opened 12 November 2026; the Switch digital pre-orders have no date yet.
Two official pages give two dates, and both are right. The Steam store page says Dec 9, 2026. The official product page on layton.jp says December 10, 2026. LEVEL5 has not explained the gap, and this site will not invent one: the likeliest cause is a time-zone or storefront convention, but that is a guess, so both dates stay on the page with their sources attached.
What is not ambiguous is the ordering. Steam unlocks first. Buying on PC makes 9 December your date.
Two dates, side by side
| Source | Date | Wording |
|---|---|---|
| Steam store page (app 3384600) | Dec 9, 2026 | Release date, coming soon |
| Official product page (en-us) | December 10, 2026 | "Scheduled for release on December 10, 2026" |
| Japanese product page | 2026年12月10日（木） | Same date, printed with the weekday and marked as planned |
Both pages were read on 14 November 2026. Neither carries a launch time of day.
Which pre-orders opened
| Platform | Pre-order status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | Open since 12 November 2026, 00:00 JST | Official product page |
| Steam | Open since 12 November 2026, 00:00 JST | Official product page |
| Switch 2 (digital) | To be announced later | Official product page |
| Switch (digital) | To be announced later | Official product page |
The bonus cutoff is the one hard deadline: pre-order by 11:59 PM JST on 9 December 2026 and the soundtrack is included. Same day as the Steam release, and not a coincidence: the bonus window closes when the game goes on sale.
How the date arrived
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-02-09 | Game announced as a Nintendo Switch title | layton.jp TOPICS |
| 2024-09-24 | First trailer, LEVEL5 VISION 2024 | layton.jp TOPICS |
| 2025-09-25 | Release window changed from 2025 to 2026 | Official notice |
| 2026-09-09 | Release date confirmed, with a trailer | layton.jp TOPICS |
| 2026-11-12 | PS5 and Steam pre-orders open | layton.jp TOPICS |
That 2025 notice is the only change LEVEL5 has announced. It moved the window from "2025" to "2026" without naming a day, and the day arrived a year later in September 2026.
Practically speaking
On PC, plan around 9 December. If you are on a console, the official page's 10 December is the only date LEVEL5 has printed for you, and the Switch versions do not even have a pre-order date yet.
For anyone booking time off: neither page gives an hour, and a midnight unlock in Japan is midday in Europe and early morning in the United States. The Steam page will show the countdown once the store switches over.
Common checks
- Is it delayed again? No new notice since 25 September 2025.
- Is there a midnight launch? No launch time is published on either page.
- Does the Japanese date apply worldwide? The official page is the same in all ten languages, so it is the global date they print.
- Which date does the pre-order bonus use? The cutoff is 9 December, 23:59 JST, on the official page.