Pokemon Winds and Waves Announced as Switch 2 Exclusive — Gen 10 Skips Original Switch Entirely

Pokemon's 30th anniversary just delivered the franchise's biggest announcement in years — and its most divisive hardware decision. Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves, the tenth generation of the beloved series, will launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027. The original Switch? Left behind entirely.

A New Generation, A New Console Requirement

Revealed during the February 27 Pokemon Presents event, Winds and Waves introduce three new starter Pokemon: Browt (a Grass-type Bean Chick), Pombon (a Fire-type Puppy), and Gecqua (a Water-type Gecko). The games are set in a tropical region inspired by Southeast Asia — specifically Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines — featuring vast island chains and explorable underwater areas.

The open-world design promises "beautiful windswept islands and a vast ocean with glittering waves," suggesting a significant visual upgrade from Scarlet and Violet's sometimes-struggling performance on current hardware.

Switch 2 Exclusivity: Smart Move or Cash Grab?

Here's where it gets interesting. By making Gen 10 Switch 2-exclusive, Nintendo is essentially using Pokemon — the world's highest-grossing media franchise — as the ultimate console-selling weapon. There's no backward compatibility play here, no cross-gen release. If you want to catch the new starters, you're buying new hardware.

GameSpot argues this is actually a good thing, noting that Switch 2's superior hardware means Game Freak can finally deliver the open-world Pokemon experience without the frame rate drops and pop-in that plagued Scarlet and Violet. Fair point — but it also means the 146 million Switch owners need to upgrade.

New Features Worth Noting

Version-specific character outfits return, and for the first time, Brazilian Portuguese is officially supported as a playable language — a meaningful addition for one of Pokemon's largest global markets. The simultaneous worldwide launch in 2027 follows the pattern established by recent generations.

The Bottom Line

Pokemon Winds and Waves looks like exactly what the franchise needs: a genuine next-gen Pokemon experience built for more powerful hardware. But let's be honest about what "Switch 2 exclusive" really means — it's the most effective console launch strategy in gaming history. Nintendo doesn't need a killer app when they have the killer app.

Source: Nintendo Everything