I always wonder if maybe the devs are wanting an out from finishing the project but still want the cred for working on it. So they make the announcement fully knowing Nintendo will come down on them which will then alleviate them from having to complete the project.
That’s generally why when you’re younger people tend to put their retirement funds into riskier investments and over time as you get closer to retirement you move portions of your money into less risky things that don’t have the potential volatility of the stock market so that by the time you retire you don’t have to worry about the stock market dipping and blowing out your retirement funds. At least that’s one way to do it; obviously this isn’t investment advice and you should seek your own professional investment advice.