Pokemon Sword & Shield releases on November 15, 2019, and will be coming to Switch owners with a simultaneous worldwide launch that will ensure everyone gets to begin their journey as a Pokemon trainer in Galar. Pokemon Sword & Shield will be the first mainline Pokemon entry to come to a console in the franchise’s history, which affords the new games a lot of leeway in terms of design that weren’t necessarily available for their predecessors thanks to the restrictions of handheld technology at the time.
By all accounts, it appears like Pokemon Sword & Shield will be making good on the extra design space that comes with a console release. During the Pokemon Direct, it was revealed that the games will be adding several new features that have never been seen before, including the Dynamax mechanic, which allows Pokemon to grow gigantic in scale during battles and unleash more powerful versions of their attacks to complement the change. Dynamax will also allow Pokemon Sword & Shield to introduce raid mechanics to the game, allowing players to raid online with up to four trainers to take down gigantic versions of Pokemon, with the end goal being capturing these kaiju-like beasts and adding them to a trainer’s roster.
The Pokemon Direct made good on its promise of 15 minutes of non-stop new Pokemon content, but the biggest announcement was the simplest one: Pokemon Sword & Shield releases on November 15, 2019, with a simultaneous worldwide launch. Pokemon has traditionally launched on the same day in different regions, so it’s not necessarily a surprise, but it’s a nice reminder and a continuation of a practice that has endeared itself to the series’ global following.
Nintendo also announced during the Pokemon Direct that the Pokemon Sword & Shield release date would feature a bundled version of the games that will offer consumers the chance to pick up both in a special edition box, alongside other elements that have yet to be announced. It’s an interesting spin on release date strategy for Pokemon, which usually offers a generation’s games separately. Given that many Pokemon fans have grown up, gotten jobs, and are dedicated to collecting all of the Pokemon present in each generation, it makes sense that many of them might want both copies of the newest generation so that they can trade game-exclusive critters to themselves.
Pokemon Sword & Shield also continues the tradition of Nintendo having a slam-dunk holiday season release for the Switch. Previously, Super Mario Odyssey and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have occupied that role, and Sword & Shield‘s release date could be the biggest offering yet. The sky is the limit for the newest Pokemon entries, and Game Freak and Nintendo appear to be holding nothing back in finally bringing the series to its rightful home on a mobile console.