The Pokémon franchise has been around since 1996, but Pokémon Legends: Z-A is going to break a tradition on the Nintendo Switch for the first time in the franchise’s history.
During Pokémon Day 2024, Game Freak announced a new game. This game is called Pokémon Legends: Z-A and takes place in the Kalos region, the same region as the X&Y games.
Legends: Z-A will soon be playable on all Nintendo Switch consoles. The game is expected to be released in 2025. But this release date will break a Pokémon tradition that has been running for 28 years, or since the beginning of the franchise.
Pokémon tradition
With Legends: Z-A, a major record will be broken. In fact, it will be the first time in history that a new Pokémon game has not been released for two consecutive years.
Game Freak has released a new game almost every year since Pokémon Red & Green in 1996. There have been times when fans have gone a year without a new game, but never for two years. Until now, that is, on the Nintendo Switch.
(Image: Nintendo)
The last Pokémon games, Scarlett & Violet, came out in 2022. It did release another DLC for this game in 2023, but this does not count as a full-fledged game. A DLC is simply some additional content for an existing game.
Does this have to do with the Nintendo Switch 2?
There are several factors that may have influenced this break in tradition. The first is workload. With each new Pokémon game, more and more new things are introduced. For example, we can now fly or sail on pocket monsters. And there are things like mega-evolution.
This search for news can take a lot of time, as the previous game must always be surpassed, after all. Work pressure is therefore quite something that may have had an impact on the two-year absence of a Pokémon game.
Also, the release date of the Nintendo Switch 2 may have played a big role in the Pokémon gap. At first we could expect the Switch 2 in 2024, but this was later changed to 2025. It may well be that Game Freak chose to delay the game as well so that it comes out at the same time as the Switch 2.
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But those are only speculations. However, it does remain a shame that Game Freak cannot keep up this fantastic streak. After all, who doesn’t love a new Pokémon game every two years?
