If there's one thing we know for sure about Pokémon on the Switch, it's that it's definitely happening. In fact, The Pokémon Company already announced it back in 2017, during the E3 Nintendo Direct.
The initial rumours predicted it would be Pokémon Stars, an ultimate version of Pokémon Sun and Moon. But the subsequent launch of Ultra Sun and Moon on the 3DS combined with comments made by The Pokémon Company have resulted in a move away from that rumour.
Here, we're going to round up everything we know about the elusive Pokémon Switch in one place to whet your appetites. We'll keep this updated as we learn more, so it might be worth bookmarking so you don't miss anything.
Pokémon Switch will mark the start of Generation Eight
In a recent issue of the Official Nintendo Magazine, The Pokémon Company confirmed that Pokémon Switch will mark the debut of Generation Eight. That pretty much confirms that it's a brand new entry, given how each of them have introduced a new generation into the mix so far.
What it also suggests is that we'll visit a brand new region, too. Again, each new entry in the Pokémon games has so far introduced a new region alongside a new generation.
Pokémon Switch will feature new mechanics
Also revealed in the issue of Official Nintendo Magazine, is that Pokémon Switch will feature all new mechanics. The Pokémon Company confirmed that it's rethinking the series entirely to provide a new way to play.
That's all we know at a factual level, but our brains are already whirring at the possibilities. Will this be Pokémon's Breath of the Wild? We can only hope.
Pokémon Switch will likely feature multiplayer
Pokémon always feels like it should be a true co-operative multiplayer experience, but it wasn't until Pokémon GO in 2016 that this side of the game started to bear fruit.
The Switch's online options, while admittedly not perfect, are far and away the best Nintendo's managed so far. That's something the Pokémon Company is well aware of, it seems, as it said the following quote in an interview of Bloomberg: "Until now, games were made as one for one person, but now you can go home and play with everyone -- so how do we tackle these themes, and how do we make sure it’s not complicated?".
While that's not gold-plated proof that Pokémon Switch will feature multiplayer, it does suggest that some form of it will make it into the game.
Pokémon Switch could return to the Kanto region
Though this runs counter to our first point (unless Pokémon Switch features all or returning regions alongside a new one), a leaked image did suggest a return to Kanto. It's very blurry, but below you can see it in all its glory. In case you can't make it out, it's a trainer riding a Lapras through what appears to be Route 21.
However, this could be a completely different game entirely from the core Pokémon game that arrives on Switch. Perhaps this is yet another remake of Pokémon Red and Blue? Or maybe it's fake? You decide...
Pokémon Switch could be Pokémon Stars
Though this is looking increasingly less likely as the rumour mill swirls, there is some credibility to the earlier rumours that Pokémon Switch will be an enhanced version of Pokémon Sun and Moon.
Eurogamer claimed that "multiple sources" had confirmed Pokémon Stars to them back in 2016, though didn't cite any in particular.
The "sources" claimed that Pokémon Stars was the codename for this Pokémon Switch game, and that it would launch in 2017. Pokémon would be tradeable between the 3DS and Switch versions of the game via an app named "Pokémon Bank". The below image of a HD Pikipek was also bandied about as evidence for a while as well.
Pokémon Stars didn't materialise in 2017, though an enhanced version did arrive on 3DS in the form of Ultra Sun and Moon. That doesn't mean we still won't see Pokémon Stars on Switch, but if we do it will be entirely separate from the core Pokémon RPG. Perhaps it's designed to bridge the gap?
When will Pokémon Switch release?
That's the million dollar question! The Pokémon Company has stated on two different occasions that we'll see it in "2018 or later", which is an incredibly wide release timeline. We've also heard rumours that it could be coming as early as November this year. Hopefully that will be narrowed around E3 2018.
What do you think Pokémon Switch will be like? Are you hoping for anything in particular? Would you accept a remake of Red and Blue or Sun and Moon to help make the wait more bearable? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments (67)
Lots of speculation in this article for things we 'know' about Pokemon Switch.
I am as excited about this as anyone, but we don't 'know' much yet. Hopefully there is a Pokemon direct in May ahead of E3.
As pointed out in the comments of the article, that Spanish Nintendo magazine has a track record of publishing completely untrue things, so I wouldn't take their word as fact (though I'd be surprised if the Switch game was not Gen 8).
I'd say that image with the Lapras is probably fake. It's almost indistinguishable from the 3DS games, and I think there would be a much bigger graphical upgrade for a Switch game.
I'm not going to let any rumors shape my thoughts about the game, until we see official information (The Magazine mentioned has apparently given false information in the past, from what I've heard).
This will be the first ever Mainline Pokemon Title on a console so it will be interesting to see what they can do with it. I've been with the series since Gold and Silver, I hope this won't be the end of it.
In other words, we know nothing more than we already knew.
wouldn't it make more sense if the game was called Pokemon eclipse? I mean the sun is a star after all. I'd prefer if Nintendo started this in a new region and then added older regions in as map expansions. Also just make it one version but make the pokemon you catch region specific like Pokemon go(base it on switch registration region, not online account as this still keeps the trading element)
This just highlights how little we do know, I like to try and avoid Pokemon spoilers but right now we don't even know its name.
I’d have been happy with Yellow remade with the breath of the wild engine. Lol. I just want to be able to walk around the Pokémon world, watch Pokémon do stuff in the wild, catch, battle, and interact with everything within. I don’t need endless menus and management and super in-depth play changes.
Why are you further promoting rumors as fact and unreliable sources as truth, NintendoLife?
It seems more realistic to me for it to be a soft reboot of the series and bringing it into a more modern context. So being set in Kanto makes sense, rather than introducing an 8th gen of Pokemon
So basically we know it exists and nothing more...
Pointless articles are pointless.
You can do better than this, guys. The official Nintendo Magazine in question has reported on fake news multiple times, including about Pokémon. A whole speculation about Kanto based on a rough poorly made "screenshot" is really scraping the barrel. Eurogamer's rumours had credibility, nothing else. All that we really know is that it's coming. Maybe check with your kind of partner Serebii before posting such a rumour filled article?
Edit: the title does say "Rumours", so my bad on that. But I stand by my point that the only rumours that had foundation were Eurogamer's.
So when can we expect the "Everything we know about Metroid Prime 4" article, b/c we know as much about that game as we know about Pokemon Switch, it's being made, that's about it.
Sorry, but I thought there would be SOMETHING remotely newsworthy in the article. Something. So weird to be mid April and Gamefreak not announce a holiday game, they've done it almost every year at this time, whether new games, sequels or remakes, they always seem to have a November game they announce in the spring. Even if it's just an offshoot Mystery Dungeon or Ranger game. Would be weird to not have any Pokemon game release this holiday. They almost never wait until E3, but maybe this year they are.
But if they do wait until E3, almost no way Pokemon Switch releases in 2018. If it's a new area w/ new Pokemon and new game play mechanics they'd want longer than that to promote it. A port of S&MU or any of the earlier games could happen with only a few months notice.
Awwww so cute, Nintendolife also wants to get in the business of posting unverified and unconfirmed information.
We also need a rumour page disguised as "news" for Animal Crossing. Chop, Chop, Mr Fox! Or its a P45.....
Why I need to care about new or old regions in the game??!
The only reason we can believe that it's Gen 8 is that Gamefreak has never developed a Pokemon Spinoff, and we have no reason to believe they'll use their resources that are not a part of a formula guaranteed to sell eight digits of units.
Not because a magazine told us so. At best, they just used that same logic.
i wish they release a remake of red and blue like leafgreen and firered for the switch.
and hopefully they release Pokemon Switch (Gen.8) in this year
We basically know nothing, it’s all rumor at this point.
1) A guide to no new news. What a surprise Nintendolife makes it sound like they have more via there headline.
2) When was Pokémon about co-op?
@Mando44646 They tried that with Black and White.
I just hope it comes out this year.
I wonder what it called for 8th Generation...
There's a lot of people criticising this article in the comments here. This is all we know so far, little as it is. The article refers to this information being unverified throughout. It's just a rumour mill, they are common.
Regarding the game, I just want my nostalgia fed. I want a full 3D explorable Kanto reimagining with a national dex-esque Pokédex expansion at the end. Then I'll be happy. And isolated from the outside world.
@Arehexes Black and White wasn't much of a reboot - it changed barely anything at all and didn't feel like an evolution of the series. Sun/Moon was far more progressive than B/W in that regard, even if it was still very light in that regard
So are the red/white switch colours dreamt up too? That's the only reason I clicked...
I swear that there was an interview recently with someone who used to work for the UK Official Nintendo Magazine and said that although they were 'official' they weren't privy to any information that other publications didn't know but that they just focused on Nintendo games/consoles and maybe got easier access to preview games. I'd imagine that this Spanish version is in exactly the same position.
I will be beyond disapointed if Pokemon Switch ends up being Stars. I have no idea why people are still pushing the idea of it after it clearly wasn’t happening when Ultra Sun/Moon came out.
Just give us a new Gen, that is all I want honestly.
@Deku-Scrub
It is a new Gen, that much we do know.
omg
Pokemon Stars released last year on the 3DS. It's called Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.
I really hate the Pokemon Stars rumours, it didn't make sense to begin with.
Basically, thr sun is a star and the moon is pretty much a giant rock.
Pokemon Eclipse would've made much more sense, but after the sucess of pokemon white and black 2, it was clearlly a good tactic to split the releases, people who got pokemon sun, would buy ultra moon and vice versa to feel like they have a more complete experience, and the more hardcore fans would buy more versions.
Then again, there's a logical explaination why theu didn't go with "Pokemon Solar Eclipse" or "Lunar eclipse". One has the sun's light blocked by the moon, and they other is the sun's light that is projected onto the moon is blocked by Earth.
Other than that, maybe they are saving title like a pokemon yellow remaster for the switch as a pokemon adventure game!... We are allowed to dream.
I’ll be so annoyed if it’s Stars. I’m so bored of Alola
No mention of the rumor that the project title of the new Pokemon is Project Beluga? I mean if you're going to have an article of unfounded rumors (and post that fake @** picture) you may as well hit all the high notes.
We only know that a mainline Pokemon game is coming to Switch. Everything else is speculation at this point.
So we know nothing other than the "official" Nintendo magazine (which is not reliable). Thanks for wasting my time
I hope the new mechanics ave nothing to do with overhauling the battle system. I worry how that'd affect transferring Pokemon forward and the #PlayPokemon scene.
I thought I would actual find something worth reading in this article when in reality is just meaning speculation and treating rumors as facts.
As stated multiple times in the comments above me the magazine is known to be inaccurate and it doesn't help that you are implying this is actual evidence.
I'm not keen on online multiplayer titles. It spoils the experience for me - cheating, server issues, time-delimited, not being able to keep up...
Also not delighted by the idea of games as a service. Pocket camp has become a tedious grind that keeps being updated with more tedious tasks to keep the player spending money. Once the servers are gone, the game will be gone too.
I realise that mobile and consoles are different, but the two seem to be converging somewhat - online requirements, loot boxes...
Not really fussed by Pokemon anyway, but I hope Nintendo/Game Freak makes good decisions about the way they change things up.
Hope this game is great! Pokemon sun and moon just gets a lousy 6/10 out of me
I'd legitimately like to know how much articles like this financially benefit @Nintendolife. I mean, they got me to click if only to voice how disgusting I think this level of journalism is. Speculation at best and blatant lies at worst being spouted as fact.
This is why I got to Dualshockers a lot more.
In other words, all we KNOW is that we are getting a Pokemon game on the Switch. Everything else here is just reasoned speculation with vague, even contradicting sources.
The only way I could see Pokemon being co-op would be have a part of the game that is distinctly only for co-op. Otherwise, if say, I visited your game, and battled some local trainers before you, I gain exp and money and deny it to you. That hurts more than helps.
Honestly I'm kind of dreading the Switch Pokemon. Mix of Gen 7 being pretty lackluster and the fact they'll have to ditch the current very convenient UI to go back to having it all on a single screen.
I'll definitely get it but I'm a lot more cautious about it than I am eager.
I suspect we'll get the core of Pokémon we know and love (some more than others), but obviously built for the Switch setup and with mechanics that, while they might shake up the formula, aren't going to necessarily completely change them.
My only concern is Game Freak/Nintendo skimping on the game like S&M as far as how restricted it felt in comparison to past games. I played some last night and while not a horrible game, it just feels like the bare minimum was done in some aspects. This is a momentous move and they need to go big
I just want a game that does for the Pokémon series what Breath of the Wild did for the Zelda series. I'd like it to be based in the orange islands but that's just me I'm sure.
I still believe in "Pokemon Stars", although probably under a different name...and there will be some continuity with the Sun/Moon games.
Reason: They always leave some hints in one generation pointing to the next generation. Remember the "Strange Souvenir"? In Sun/Moon it is the guy with amnesia in the Haina desert. He is there for a reason.
i heard the new pokemon game for switch will introduce the 8th gen pokemon
@Deku-Scrub i heard the new pokemon game for switch is going to introduce the 8th gen pokemon.
@rjejr I do think this is a new generation, and I also think it will launch holiday 2018. The movie coming this summer says it all; Zeraora is featured and is the last Pokemon in the Alola Pokedex. For both Gen 5 and Gen 6, the last Pokemon of their Pokedexes not only featured a Pokemon from the following generation (Mega Mewtwo for Gen 5 and Magearna for Gen 6) but also released in the summer preceding the release of the games from the following generation. If they unveil any new Pokemon or mechanics from Gen 8 in the upcoming movie (such as a new Eeveelution) Gen 8 is almost certainly coming holiday 2018.
And I think we have until the end of E3 for a Pokemon Switch reveal, with the timing most likely to happen in May. I'm not basing this on any rumors or anything, just logic — if I were a Game Freak executive, I'd announce the game in May, let the hype train carry to E3, announce more info there, continue with monthly updates until release. May is not late whatsoever; Sun and Moon were announced in February, but besides logos we never got any information until May — so for all intents and purposes Sun and Moon were announced in May and they were advertised satisfactorily in the lead up to release.
Gold/Silver Switch remake Id be happy with that....PLZ PLZ PLZ pokemon gods!
Gee so much "confirmed" information...
All I do know is the obvious, Pokemon Switch will crush sales as a port, and if it's a completely new game, more so, if it's a revolution in Pokemon games much like BotW was to Zelda, well, wait for records to be broken then.
@blackbox64 weren’t Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness console games?
I’d like it if this game gets rid of the weird bobble head characters of Pokémon X/Y, or Sun/Moon(+). I hope that they’ll find a way to combine it with Pokémon Snap mini games, and a multiplayer aspect like the mini games in Pokémon stadium on N64
This is the kind of thing I expect to see on Kotaku, not here =/
@Camilla @MoonKnight7 I'm fully aware that this should undoubtedly be the 8th generation, my original comment was mostly stating that I don't want an artificial extension of Gen 7 to the Switch with "Stars".
Still playing Ultra Sun so I can hold on a while longer 🌞
I am sooooooo excited, always wanted a Core 3D HD Pokemon game. What it could be like? Oh the possibilities
I believe it will be announced at E3
@HydroTendonMan To be fair, a proper article on the rumours so far would be interesting, because there are a lot of interesting rumours (actual rumours) floating around. But you don't find those by reading the first three links in Google when you're looking for ''Pokemon leaks''. This is pretty pointless. No mention of the Chinese riddler for example. There are a few people with an OK track record when it comes to predicting info and Directs and such, they've shared what they've heard, no mention of any of that.
Note, I'm not talking about the baseless 4chan rumours, but if you look hard enough, there's some interesting stuff there that could turn out to be real, but that's nowhere to be found in this article.
@Adnanilyas21 I'm a big fan too but game freak devs said that they are afraid fans are expecting too much, for me that means "what we're doing is not that much of a big jump so be warned and you won't get disappointed"
With their warning i kept my expectations as low as a remaster of sun and moon graphics and assets but with HD textures, i am way sure the first HD pokemon rpg game won't be the same level as breath of the wild graphics or world.
Maybe it's something not far away from sun and moon graphics with HD textures, better visual effects, visible fur, bright fire, anime style characters with biggers cities and long roads in between to make the world bigger and a hub where you can probably physically meet 10 of your best friends list, like chat rooms but with visual presence
Public information service: this article is designed to pull web traffic to Nintendo Life. This is not a bad thing. It is not actually aimed at people who visit the site anyway. If you are new to Nintendo Life: welcome. There's more to it than a compilation of nothing about Pokémon Switch.
Aww man - I hope for a single-player game. I have no one in my group of friends to play videogames with, so I would appreciate, if this adventure was made JUST for one player (me)
@shadow-wolf Yeah that all sounds good, but as you said yourself, just speculation on your part. Nintendo Life could have simply called this article "Random Pokemon Speculation".
And May would be fine for a reveal for a holiday 2018 game, but I still think if there is nothing until E3 it's winter or spring, Feb-May sometime.
Actually Pokemon seems like a good spring game to me, fall/holiday is usually about shooters. And as I wrote at length somewhere yesterday, I really think Ntinedo needs a cheaper alternate Switch than the current $299 version if they want to sell 15m copies of Pokemon like the past few games consistently have. First games, not including the sequels.
http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon
Spring of next year would be a good time to release a handheld Switch for $199 w/o the dock, or a Switch Mini, or just drop the price to $249. Something more palatable to parents pocketbooks.
Just add co-op. Both online and offline. If they can make that happen - the pokemon switch game will be better than any other.
"Everything We Know About Pokemon Switch"
*We know nothing.
Great, thanks for that, I'm truly enlightened.
It’s the small things that I want to see. I wish they used the cartoon animation and sound bites for poke balls opening, and when the Pokémon return. It’s seriously bothered me since Game Boy. I wanna see that damn red laser and hunny they zoom on back.
@rjejr Yeah it's all just speculation, this article's title should be worded differently.
But I agree about your cheaper Switch option. Except that GameFreak has always launched Pokemon games in the fall IIRC in Japan; it just so happens that US and Europe used to be delayed, but starting from XY they were all on the same date or within weeks of each other. So a fall 2018 release is more likely than a spring 2019 release. And they could release a cheaper Switch this holiday perhaps.
@shadow-wolf I'm sure Gamefreak would like to release it in the fall, but it's Gamefreak's first Pokemon game in HD that has to run at 1080p on a TV and 720 on a screen, and have all of the information on only one screen. I think the last 1 screen Pokemon was 10 years ago, maybe more. So they have their work cut out for them, and I don't think they'll have it ready in the fall. And at least some of them were working on S&M Ultra which just released. Probably not all of them, but some.
I think if we were to get anything this year it would be a port, not a new game, but I'm not even sure how to port a 2 screen game to the Switch.
Better a delayed game than a bad game.
And I think Switch may be selling well enough as is at it's current price point they don't really need a cheaper model until Feb or March when sales slow down after the holiday. SSB will see to sales being just fine this year, even if that's delayed until early 2019 as well. Next spring will be 2 years since the Switch launch, a good time for some type of change.
I so want Nintendo to release the Red/White Joy-Con pack to make a "Pokeball Switch" when Pokémon Switch launches, just like in the top photo on this article!!
While I love Pokemon, the game mechanics of the main series games have grown super stale to me, I don't have my hopes up, but I really want them to make a huge change to the mechanics of the game so it can really feel fresh.
Also if Game Freak can't write a decent story to go with their amazing character designs they really should outsource the job. It's a terrible shame their amazing looking characters have incredibly shallow personalities who are participants in a terribly written story, and even then many of them don't even get much of a part in that, they are relegated to one role in 1 part of the game and do nothing else.
Perhaps it will be an MMO that encopasses multiple old regions along with introducing new Pokémon?
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