Pokémon Gen 10 job vacancies with Game Freak create Nintendo Switch 2 launch date conundrum

Three job vacancies with Game Freak have been shared on a popular forum that indicate the developer is hard at work on Pokémon Gen 10. All three listings, for an R&D Programmer, Graphic Designer: Effects, and Graphic Designer: Person Motion, feature the phrase “next generation” in regard to software, technologies, graphics, and effects. It’s clear that Game Freak is referring to the 10th generation of the main Pokémon game series here, as opposed to any next-gen console. Interestingly, the timeline of the game’s production may give an idea of when the Nintendo Switch 2 might be launched.

Typically, it takes Game Freak three to four years between Pokémon releases, with the last four generations separated by three years each. If the company takes three years with Pokémon Gen 10 then a 2025 launch is on the cards, and it is likely that the Nintendo Switch 2 will have been released long before that time. Game Freak will need Switch 2 dev kits or the like to make sure its next Pokémon title doesn’t suffer any of the glitches or controversies of its last two games. If the next-gen Switch 2 console turns up in late 2023, as has been previously rumored, this would give Game Freak plenty of developing time for a 2025 Pokémon Gen 10 launch.

However, as has been pointed out, the Pokémon video-game franchise will be 30 years old in 2026 (Red and Blue were released in Japan in 1996), and this would be an ideal opportunity for Game Freak to launch the Pokémon Gen 10 title. If this is the case, Nintendo could leave a Switch 2 launch for 2024, as that would still give Game Freak enough time to work with dev kits and produce an enhanced version of Pokémon Gen 10 for the next-gen console. It would also allow the Big N to sell as many original Switch devices as possible before it finally reaches its product end of life (EOL).

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