The newly revealed Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves will set a new record for the monster-catching series, releasing after the longest wait between Pokemon generations. Announced at the Pokemon Presents presentation, Game Freak’s tenth-generation Pokemon game won’t arrive on Nintendo Switch 2 until 2027.
That’ll be five years since Pokemon Scarlet and Violet landed on the Switch. Previously, the widest gap between generations was four years long.
- Red/Green/Blue (1996) to Gold/Silver (1999): Three years
- Gold/Silver (1999) to Ruby/Sapphire (2002): Three years
- Ruby/Sapphire (2002) to Diamond/Pearl (2006): Four years
- Diamond/Pearl (2006) to Black/White (2010): Four years
- Black/White (2010) to X/Y (2013): Three years
- X/Y (2013) to Sun/Moon (2016): Three years
- Sun/Moon (2016) to Sword/Shield (2019): Three years
- Sword/Shield (2019) to Scarlet/Violet (2022): Three years
- Scarlet/Violet (2022) to Winds/Waves (2027): Five years
All things considered, the mainline Pokemon games have been coming out at a fairly consistent pace. Three to five years between new entries isn’t so bad compared to other major gaming franchises, many of which have been subject to longer development cycles. We’re looking at you, Elder Scrolls and Grand Theft Auto.
