Since their official unveiling earlier this year, the world’s heard not even a squeak out of Game Freak concerning Pokémon Sword and Shield.
That’s somewhat to be expected, given that E3 is just around the corner, though with only several months standing between Trainers and their introduction to Generation 8, for the developer to remain this muted is surprising, to say the least. Several leaks and rumors have surfaced since February in an effort to fill the void of official news, though with the majority proving fake, Pokéfans are still none the wiser as to the secrets that Sword and Shield‘s UK-inspired Galar region holds.
However, that could all be about to change in the near future. Late last week, an image claiming to reveal Nintendo’s pre-release promotional plans for Sword and Shield surfaced on Reddit. User NessTyre, who discovered the supposed leak, mentions 4Chan as being the agenda’s original source, so it’s around now that you’ll want to have a pinch of salt at the ready. True or not, the schedule’s contents are segmented into several noteworthy events, including one – May 15th – being noted as the date that Japanese gaming mag CoroCoro will reveal the two games’ box art.
Following that are panels at Comic Con in Salt Lake City and PAX, with a showing at Tokyo Game Show and further CoroCore reveals to come in September. Taking past reveal schedules for the likes of Pokémon Sun and Moon into account, none of the above is outside the realms of possibility, though the apparent lack of an E3 appearance is at the very least suspicious. Regardless, it’s the final date in 4Chan’s list that will generate the most heated discussion.
According to the site, Pokémon Sword and Shield are penned in for launch between November 15th-20th, 2019. Both dates fall on weekdays traditionally reserved for new game releases, though that’s no indication of the leak’s authenticity, sadly. Unless discredited by its creator, we ultimately won’t know for sure how accurate the unofficial info dump is, but hey, May is just around the corner, so we’ll know sooner rather than later how much truth, if any, there is to the claims.
Keep those fingers crossed in unison, Pokéfans.