Five-year wait for Pokémon Winds and Waves raises hopes after Scarlet and Violet

Pokémon Winds and Waves have been confirmed as Gen 10, due in 2027, arriving during the series' 30th anniversary. The announcement is a cause for celebration across the community, but it also serves as a reminder of the problems Game Freak faced with Scarlet and Violet.

Scarlet and Violet were commercial successes, shipping a combined 28 million copies and becoming the series' second best-selling entries, yet they suffered from technical and design shortcomings. Poor optimization, a lack of appropriate level scaling, frequent frame-rate drops even with small groups of wild Pokémon, visual comparisons to older Switch titles, and a scarcity of enterable buildings left parts of Paldea feeling shallow.

Expectations for Winds and Waves are higher.

pokémon, winds, waves, gen 10, 2027, game freak, scarlet, violet, paldea, optimization