With the recent announcement of the ninth generation of Pokémon‘s mainline games, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, fans are understandably excited. Unfortunately, the last several years have upended many studios’ development cycles and ruined their long-term plans for their various projects. Players feel this impact in the form of sporadic and lengthy droughts of either content or new releases. For example, 2020 saw only Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield‘s DLC releases, The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra, while the next full-release Pokémon game, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl—themselves a remake of prior games—would come almost two years to the date from Sword and Shield, in November 2021.
With the only slightly staggered launch of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which was announced simultaneously with BD/SP, Pokémon fans were understandably excited to find themselves with numerous launches to look forward to. It came as a shock to most, then, to tune into February 27th’s Pokémon presentation, entitled “Pokémon Presents,” to see Pokémon Scarlet and Violet be revealed—with a projected release date of late 2022!
This initially inspires a great deal of excitement, especially in light of what 2020 looked like for Pokémon. Upon further consideration, however, it’s also cause for some concern. Pokémon Sword and Shield were criticized widely for the lack of content, the emptiness of the world, and how overall rushed the games felt. Game Freak has, in the past, expressed no interest in expanding the size of their team; in fact, they seemed directly opposed to it.
Knowing that, it calls into question how they could develop Legends: Arceus, provide production support for BD/SP, and quietly guide Scarlet and Violet through pre-production, only to then accelerate into full-scale production while remaining on time for the “late 2022” release window. For a studio that has always remained lean, it seems an impossible task on the timetables that they have shared with the public. All of this fails to even consider post-launch support for Legends: Arceus, which was, itself, an exciting proof of concept for a new style of Pokémon game.
Game Freak has proven itself time and again to be an extremely talented group of developers, guiding Pokémon through twenty-five years of success, and any decisions made about deadlines are likely beyond their control for the most part. At the end of the day, fans will have to put their faith in the team at Game Freak — comprised of artists pursuing their passion, trying to find a way to make a living while doing so. — Nico De Paolis