Pokémon Legends: Z-A teased for 2025 release

The big news out of today’s Pokémon Presents is that the next major Pokémon game is in the works — and it’s launching next year. There aren’t many details yet, but the game is called Pokémon Legends: Z-A (yes, that’s the real title), and it takes place in Lumiose City, where 2013’s Pokémon X and Y were set. The game is expected to launch in 2025 with a simultaneous global release, and it’s coming to the Nintendo Switch. It’s being developed by Game Freak.

The initial teaser video doesn’t show any actual gameplay but does hint at some changes coming to the city. According to the YouTube description, the game takes place while “an urban redevelopment plan is under way to shape the city into a place that belongs to both people and pokémon.”

This will be the franchise’s first major release since a very busy 2022 that started with Legends: Arceus and ended with Violet and Scarlet. Both releases came out on the Switch; the hybrid Nintendo console was also home to Sword and Shield, which launched in 2019.

The announcement comes amid a steady stream of reports and rumors about the Switch’s successor, which is now expected to debut sometime in 2025. It also comes not long after the breakout success of Palworld, which has been dubbed “Pokémon with guns” and even garnered the attention of The Pokémon Company.