Who would have thought that Pokémon fans would be so happy about a possible delay…
Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the next big game in the franchise from longtime developer Game Freak and publisher Nintendo, is due out sometime next year. But eagle-eyed fans have noticed that a piece of information that has recently come to light may indicate that the game will arrive towards the end of 2025 only…
As first noted on the Gaming Leaks and Rumors subreddit a few days ago, Pokémon trading card game website PokéBeach has revealed that the upcoming TCG set (supposedly due out in the first or second quarter of 2025) will not include cards that appear in Pokémon Legends: Z-A would be related to its upcoming release.
At first, this does not seem like the most concrete news.
However, it’s important to note that every mainline Pokémon game has tried to tie the new TCG sets to its release.
As PokéBeach explained, every mainline game has had a matching TCG set within two months of the game’s release. Given that no Mega Evolution or Pokémon Legends: Z-A cards have been announced, this would mean that the new RPG will probably not arrive until the second half of 2025.
Surprisingly positive reactions from Pokémon fans
Interestingly, the fans generally received the news of the slide positively. As one commenter noted, “I hope that’s what they do, and then that’s it for Pokemon RPGs in 2025; hold off on Gen 10 until the 30th anniversary in 2026…”
“Really don’t want to see them try to force two games out in the same year again…” they continued, “like they did with Arceus and ScarVi in 2022.”
“Oh please let it be true,” read another comment, “please let 2024 be a gap year so PLZA and Gen 10 have some more time in the oven.”
For those who don’t know, the developer Game Freak has received a lot of criticism in recent years for trying to release too many Pokémon games in too fast a pace. According to many, this was one of the main reasons why Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were initially flawed.
Hopefully, this means that both Game Freak and Nintendo are taking Z-A’s release a little more seriously.
Perhaps Scarlet and Violet’s lower crit scores, at least compared to previous mainline Pokémon games, somehow contributed to this change in tactics…
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