Pokémon Gen 10 Leaked Release Date Proves It's Not Scared Of GTA 6

If a franchise has become known for leaks ahead of the release of major games, then Pokémon is probably the one that springs to mind for most. Massive data breaches at developer Game Freak gave us a look at years worth of their plans for the IP, including what we might be getting with the 10th Generation.

We've been able to look at the potential new location for the games, tentatively titled Pokémon Wind and Wave, featuring a water-dominated archipelago and a sprawling urban center that looks a lot more interesting than the Lumiose City we explored in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

Now, it also looks like there may be a tentative release date for the next games in the series, and it isn't too long to wait for those who were worried.

Pokémon Gen 10 May Be Here By November

As first reported by Esports.gg, included in the vast swathe of recent leaks was a release date for the next games in the series of November 20, 2026. Given that these leaks have only just surfaced on 4Chan, take them with a pinch of salt, but that date would make sense, given the potential for an announcement this month.

Pokémon Day is set to go ahead on February 27, with many pinning that date as the most likely arena for a major announcement regarding upcoming releases and Generation 10.

Historically speaking, that date also lines up very well with what we've seen from main series games so far, with almost all of those either releasing in October or November of their given years.

The Leaked Release Date Is One Day After GTA 6

The obvious thing to point out here is that the proposed date for the release of the next Pokémon game is just one day after the scheduled arrival of arguably the most anticipated game in history, GTA VI.

While they obviously are not competitors in a traditional sense, and they're fighting for very different spaces, the size of the two franchises means that there will inevitably be audience overlap. GTA VI is definitely going to be in pole position for most, and there is definitely a world in which it could have an effect on Pokémon's initial sales.

That said, neither Game Freak nor Nintendo are known for changing their Pokémon strategies based on what everybody else is doing, so it's fairly unlikely that they'll change anything major with their release plans just because of the arrival of Rockstar's crime-riddled epic.