3 days ago
Pokémon Legends: Z-A Release Date Announced Alongside Cover Art
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The Pokémon Company has finally announced the release date for the next mainline Pokémon game, Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), and followed up by a press release, The Pokémon Company confirmed that Pokémon Legends: Z-A will be released on October 16, 2025 on both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.
Key art for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, showing trainers embroiled in a battle with multiple Mega Pokémon in the streets of Lumiose.
Key art for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, showing trainers embroiled in a battle with multiple Mega Pokémon in the streets of Lumiose.
The Pokémon Company
The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, as it's labeled, will reportedly feature improved graphics and frame rates, with prior footage of the Switch 2 versions showing a 60fps frame rate, compared to the Switch's 30fps. In addition to digital purchases, players will be able to buy either the Switch 2 physical edition, which comes with both the game and the upgrade pack, or the Switch physical edition, which can be upgraded to the Switch 2 Edition via a digital purchase of the upgrade pack.
The company also revealed the box art for the new game, which shows two trainers fighting against another, with a Mega Lucario on the cover. It's a cut down version of the full key art for the game, which also features a Mega Scizor, Mega Absol, Mega Steelix, and Mega Gardevoir, as well as a few non-Mega Evolved Pokémon.
The news also comes along with the announcement that a new Pokémon Presents livestream will take place on July 22, 2025. The presentation will include "the latest news and updates from the world of Pokémon" and will almost certainly reveal new information about Legends: Z-A.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is the next main series game in the Pokémon series, and sees players returning to the Kalos region first featured in Pokémon X and Y for the Nintendo 3DS. Unlike X and Y, players will be confined solely to Lumiose City, which is greatly expanded and seems to be massive in comparison to the small explorable areas featured in the 3DS game.
The game was originally announced only for the Nintendo Switch, but a Switch 2 Edition was confirmed during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct last month.
