As thePokémonfranchise continues to progress toward Generation 10, comments by the CEO shed some light on why it’s taking longer than usual.Pokémonis inarguably one of the most popular and successful media franchises in the world. Even when taking away the games, it still excels in merchandise, trading cards, and the various animated projects it releases. It may even be fair to say the games, at least mainline titles, have been the weakest link in recent history.
Though Generation 10 is not set to release this year,2025 will seePokémon Legends Z-A. A follow-up toPokémon Legends:Arceus,Z-Ais returning to Kalos, and appears to be set after the events ofX and Y. TheLegendssubseries boasts some innovations inPokémon’s signature battle mechanics, andZ-Ais bringing back Mega Evolutions, but the franchise is conceivably saving major steps forward for Gen 10. Recent words from The Pokémon Company reinforces this notion, and helps explain the longer wait between generations.
Pokémon CEO Says It “Will Go Downhill If We Become Complacent”
Hope For The Future
In a recent interview with theBBC, The Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara spoke about how, “if we become complacent and go with the flow, that’s when Pokémon will go downhill.“This comes off the back ofPokémon Day 2025 and its numerous announcementsbut the lack of anything for Generation 10. Most of the speculation about this revolves around the belief that both the company and Game Freak want to give the next mainline title time to develop rather than rush it out in the usual cycle.
Besides this, Ishihara also spoke about other areas of the franchise, as it gears up for its big 30th anniversary in 2026. The popularPokémon TCG, which continues with thehighly-anticipatedDestined Rivalsset, has been in hot demand in recent years, and while fans have asked the company to step in to help reduce scalping,its answer seems to be mixed in that it wants to keep the cards as rare as possible. Ishihara also reconfirmed the company’s goals to focus solely onPokémonand has no plans to expand outside the IP.
Pokémon May Be Allowing More Time For Gen 10 To Improve
More Time To Cook
All signs are pointing to a longer release schedule for Gen 10, which is an odd but refreshing break from the norm.One likely reason for this is the existence ofZ-Aand avoiding trying to make two major games in the same year. However, sinceZ-Aappears to be a smaller game than the usual mainline installments, there is a chance much of Game Freak is still working on Gen 10, andZ-Aonly has the bare minimum.
The other likely reason for the “delay” is the poor reception of the last two mainline games.WhileScarlet and Violetweren’t critical nor monetary failures, fans were quick to point out the shortcomings, and with a fanbase this big, that is a loud conjoined voice. Both games had technical issues and graphics that seemed ancient for the year they were released. Now some of this blame can be put on the Switch’s limitations, but other games have still managed to work around it, so there is no excuse whyPokémoncan’t.
Though it is unlikely one more bad game would be the death of this beloved franchise, it could be a sour note and tear down one of its core pillars.The games are the main way the franchise moves forward and adds new Pokémon, so if that were to continuously fall short or disappear entirely, it could create shockwaves in the other branches. This could be helped by therelease of the Switch 2, but that will have to wait to be seen.
How Gen 10 Games Can Avoid Being Complacent
Innovations And Upgrades
The best way for Gen 10 to avoid being complacent is by listening to the community. At base,the technical issues and lack of quality should be avoided. If the game can launch smoothly and looks like it belongs in 2026, or 2027, then that will be a great start. However, other areas need to be looked at.
If the open-world style ofScarlet andVioletstays around, it could be polished more to feel like a choose-your-own-adventure. While it was possible to choose your own way through the three main questlines, Generation 9 did seem to steer the player on a path that was meant to be followed. This takes away much of the enjoyment of an open world and should be corrected.The best way to do this would be to scale everything to the player’s level, but keep the level caps at badge checkpoints.
One thing thatZ-Amay help the mainline games with is battles. While the traditional formula isn’t bad, there is nothing against giving it a shakeup after 30 years.Z-A’s more free-form style could prove to be the thing the franchise needs, and while it would need some tweaking to be the more standard format, at worst it could be a more engaging way to battle.
Will New Ideas Fix The Pokémon Franchise?
Fixing The Cracks
Whether new ideas will fix the franchise will vary based on how many are implemented and how far they go.At worst, it would be a good way to show the franchise can innovateand prove The Pokémon Company hears the complaints. This would be the baseline fans are expecting and could go a long way to restoring hope in the community.
At best, it could completely change the franchise and propel it into a new era. Though there is nothing wrong with staying with formulas that aren’t broken, many ofPokémon’s core features have become stale.Complete reworks that have depth would be a huge step for a franchise that will need to innovate to continue its dominancein an ever-evolving global market, especially with competition starting to rise around it.
Overall, Gen 10 taking an extra year is likely a good thing. When it is released will be the true test of whether the extra time was used correctly, but there seems to be hope thatPokémonis listening. At worst, the twoLegendsgames andSVshow that the franchise is willing to make changes when the developers feel it is needed. Regardless, thePokémonCEO’s thoughts give a great insight into why Gen 10 will be a longer wait than other mainline games.
