It’s Officially the End of an Era for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

With Pokemon Scarlet and Violet announcing the end of their Ranked Battles and the Generation 10 Pokemon games having finally been officially revealed, it’s the end of an era for the Gen 9 games. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet released for the Nintendo Switch in 2022, and unfortunately, they launched as the lowest-rated games in franchise history.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet suffered from serious technical issues at launch, and it took quite a while for significant fixes to come. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet run a lot better on the Switch 2, but fans can’t be blamed for still being low on the games. That’s not to say that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet didn’t have good ideas. The open world offered a brand-new way to experience Pokemon, and the games added some high-quality new critters for players to add to their rosters.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Are Done With Ranked Battles

Pokemon‘s ninth generation has proven to be unusually long, and it won’t actually wrap up until 2027. But in the meantime, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are preparing for the end of Gen 9 by bringing their Ranked Battles to a close. It was confirmed that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will receive no further updates after Ranked Battles Season 41 starts on April 1. There will be no rewards or rankings for Pokemon Ranked Battles Season 41, which may disappoint some fans.

Generation 10 Pokemon Games Are Coming in 2027

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet sunsetting its Ranked Battles is just one way that it’s the end of an era for the somewhat troubled Switch games. The fact that the Generation 10 Pokemon games have been officially revealed is another way that it’s the end of an era for Scarlet and Violet, as the focus will finally shift away from the Paldea region to whatever the new region in the Gen 10 games Pokemon Winds and Waves will be called.

The Generation 10 Pokemon games will introduce three new starters, an unspecified number of new Pokemon, new locations to explore, and new gameplay mechanics, but seem to be following in the footsteps of Scarlet and Violet. Like Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon Winds and Waves will feature an open world, and the gameplay footage shown so far makes the new games seem like an upgraded take on what Scarlet and Violet were attempting to do.

Pokemon Winds and Waves won’t be releasing until 2027, but with Ranked Battles coming to an end and no future updates planned for Scarlet and Violet, their reveal is enough to mark an end of an era for the Gen 9 games. Some fans may have hoped that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet would get special Switch 2 Editions or something to help tide them over, but nothing to that effect has been announced at the time of this writing.

Even though Pokemon Scarlet and Violet launched in a rather lackluster state, it’s still somewhat sad to say goodbye to them and Generation 9 in general. Despite their flaws, there’s a lot to like about Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and the games did get better with post-launch updates. It’s unlikely that there will be the long five-year gap between Pokemon Winds and Waves and the Generation 11 Pokemon games, so it seems that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will be remembered as the two games that fans had the most time with before being treated to new entries.

Systems

Released

November 18, 2022

ESRB

E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence