2020 has been a complicated year for everyone, especially Nintendo. The company has simultaneously had a lot of successes and come across some significant obstacles to its projects. For instance, Nintendo started the year strong withAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.Fans ofAnimal Crossinghave been waiting for yearsfor the Switch to get a new generationin the series, and this entry was such a success that it picked up Best Family Game at The Game Awards 2020. On the other hand, Nintendo has gone through a drought of Directs lately. Without Nintendo Directs or international game conferences like E3 this year, a lot of Nintendo’s plans have become something of a mystery.
The next series that’s seeing the effects of this isPokemon.Pokemon SwordandPokemon Shieldare a little over a year old now, and over the course of 2020, they got two DLCs that expanded the Galar region and added tons of Pokemon that were missing in the base versions. In spite of some controversy around them,Pokemon SwordandShieldare some of Nintendo’s best selling games to date. Both DLCs were well received, but for now, it’s unclear whether or not Nintendo will keep expandingSwordandShield.Nintendo has compelling reason to keep working on these games, but it has just as much reason to move on.
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Expanding the Galar Region
A new region is always an exciting thing forPokemonplayers. New regions come with scores of new Pokemon and a whole new environment to explore, often built around themes and aesthetics unique to that region. Although the Galar region’s reflection on the United Kingdom was yet another fun concept for a region, its reputation was marred by one of Nintendo’s design choices. Only 400 Pokemon appear inthe region’s base Pokedex. Considering that there’s over 800 total Pokemon known so far, fans were outraged. In a series of games where a huge part of the gameplay’s conceit is collecting every Pokemon possible, it seemed counterintuitive that only some Pokemon would appear in Galar.
It seems Nintendo was sensitive to that frustration in the long run, because arguably one of the best parts of theIsle of ArmorandCrown TundraDLCs was that both of them reintroduced Pokemon to Galar. Nintendo hasn’t gone all the way to filling the Pokedex back in, but making it partly possible indicates that Nintendo is interested in it. That makes it seem feasible that Nintendo will addmoreSwordandShieldDLCsin the future. Both it and its fans have a lot to gain that way.
Just about everySwordandShieldfanwould be glad to have a complete National Pokedex to fill out, and the best way Nintendo could make that possible is by adding another couple DLCs to put the 200 or so missing Pokemon in the Galar region. Nintendo would definitely make a ton in the way of DLC sales by completing the Pokedex. Simultaneously, fans get to live out the spirit of the game by collecting every Pokemon imaginable. The sheer value in more DLCs makes it seem like the right thing for Nintendo to do.
Year of the Pokemon
Although there’s a lot to be done with the Galar region, there’s real life events that might make Nintendo want to be done there. Nintendo is celebrating a lot of franchise anniversaries in 2020 and 2021, and one of them isPokemon’s.Pokemonturns 25 next year, and Nintendo has already teased the fact that it has some big plans for 2021. It could be that those plans involve an ambitious DLC forSwordandShield.Lots of fans are hoping that Nintendo will tie a neighboring region to Galar, adding way more space to explore and more Pokemon to boot.
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The question, however, is if Nintendo wants to prioritize the franchise’s future over the present. Odds are low that Nintendo is about to leap into its ninth generation of Pokemon with another new region. Usually generations last about three or four years, and with the introduction ofSwordandShield,Gen 8 is only a year old. Instead, Nintendo might be focused on developing a high caliber remaster of previous games or regions to celebrate the 25th anniversary. Such a number seems like an appropriate time for a huge retrospective that ties regions together, far beyondtheDiamondandPearlremakethat many fans are waiting for.
It’s worth bearing in mind that Nintendo probably won’t do just one thing to celebrate the anniversary.Super Mario’s 35th anniversary prompted not justSuper Mario 3D All-Stars, but also a wealth of side projects.Pokemonwill probably get the same treatment. Even if Nintendo announces a newPokemongame in early 2021, it could still supplement something like that with moreSwordandShieldcontent. Frankly, adding a new DLC seems like the best way to helpPokemonfans to celebrate if they’re not ready to move on to a new game yet.
Ultimately, adding another expansion toSwordandShielddefinitely seems like the smart thing for Nintendo to do. These games were huge sales successes, so there’s a really big market for the DLCs. There’s also a lot of changes and additions that fans want that Nintendo can try to facilitate or at least compromise on via DLCs. Nintendo is also becoming way more comfortable with DLCs in general, as its ongoing additions toSuper Smash Bros Ultimatesuggest. IfSmash Ultimatecan get expansions and updates from the end of 2018 through at least the first half of 2021, then Nintendo can do the same thing for a much youngerPokemongame.
Even if it’s impossible to say for sure what Nintendo will actually do, it’s easy to surmise what it would be wise to do. There’s no shortage of good reasons to do another DLC, even if the DLC isn’t something story driven likeIsle of ArmorandThe Crown Tundra.It could simply patch in a small but densely populated area to add all the missing Pokemon – a new type of Safari Zone or Wild Area that gives players the chance to catch them all. Next year will be a big one for Nintendo, but that doesn’t mean it has to leaveSwordandShieldbehind. It can carry those games into 2021, even while introducing new ones.
