Game Freak Confirms Pokémon Legends: Arceus Started Development Before Sword & Shield’s Launch

Sniper


Pokemon Legends Arceuskeyart
Image: The Pokémon Company

Game Freak held a talk during the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference 2022 (CEDEC) yesterday, 25th August, and the company shared a lot of information about how it developed assets for every Pokémon game, from Pokémon Red & Blue all the way through to the most recent entry in the series, Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Hosted by Keiichi Maezawa, Game Freak detailed how it uses many different effects like ShaderFX and how its implementation has improved over the years. And during the talk, the company confirmed that the development of Legends Arceus started in the fall of 2018 — a full year before the generation VIII games, Pokémon Sword & Shield, launched.

The details of the talk have been shared by Twitter use and YouTuber @Lewchube, who is hoping to get the entire presentation translated in the near future. But this tidbit confirms that Legends: Arceus was in development for three years.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus saw a number of changes to the Pokémon formula, with more open zones and Pokémon out on the field, as well as the option to not even battle wild Pokémon — if you manage to catch them and not get spotted!

Now, we’re well on the way to the launch of generation IX with Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, and Maezawa also shared that the upcoming games started development in late 2019, around the time Sword & Shield were getting ready to launch. By the time Scarlet & Violet launch, the duo will also have been in development for three years.

Generation IX looks to be taking a few cues from Legends: Arceus, with The Pokémon Company promising an ‘open-world’ mainline RPG for the first time. With the two being developed pretty much side-by-side, it’s not too surprising, but we’re excited to see what other influences Legends: Arceus has had on the red and purple pair.

These are just early details from the talk for now — we’ll likely have even more info to dig into in the coming days, so keep an eye out. If you want an overview of the talk, then head on over to Lewchube’s Twitter.

Did you enjoy Pokémon Legend: Arceus? Are you looking forward to Scarlet & Violet? Let us know!