Not that it’s ever fallen out of favor with the masses, but the Pokémon franchise is riding high on a sea of success this year. Kicking off that victory crusade at the start of 2019 was the announcement of Pokémon Sword and Shield. The pair of Switch games will mark the franchise’s first ever mainline appearance on a home console, a long-awaited transition likely hurried along by the nature of Ninty’s hybrid device. Sadly, not until winter returns later this year will Generation 8 officially kick off, but it’s a welcome buffer period for Pokéfans, given the events taking place between now and November.
In case you achieved the impossible and dodged all the hype, Detective Pikachu finally landed in theaters last week, notching yet another mark in the ever-growing list of franchise firsts. The Ryan Reynolds and Justice Smith-led flick represent Pokémon’s first foray into live-action, a risky move that’s ultimately paid off with the proclamation of it being the best video game adaptation in history.
That’s still not all, either.
Running alongside all of the above, Niantic’s record-breaking game Pokémon Go has continued its campaign to make a Trainer out of us all, not least with several special events and updates to have arrived in recent weeks. However, there’s still plenty of room in the mobile market for more Pocket Monster fun, it appears, as a brand new title set in its ever-popular universe is scheduled to arrive within the next year.
Announced by DeNA in its latest year-end financial results, the company confirmed its plans to “launch a new and exciting smartphone game this fiscal year based on the globally popular Pokémon.” As to what that project entails, it’s hard to say. “More details, such as information about the game and launch timing, will be announced later,” the statement continues, so it’s safe to assume cold hard facts are still a ways off.
As for what we think DeNA’s latest creation is all about – expect a whole different beast to Niantic’s already well-established service. Nintendo will have no interest in having two titles in the same franchise compete with and potentially cannibalize each other, so it’ll be interesting to see what it has planned, to say the least. With games like Super Mario Run and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp representing just some of DeNA’s past work with Nintendo’s IP on smartphones, we’re expecting great things to come. Stay tuned for further details.