Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield are 2019 role-playing video games created by Game Freak. They were published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. These games are the first in the 8th generation of the Pokémon series. They were first shown at E3 2017 and officially announced in February 2019. The games were released on November 15, 2019. They came with extra content called a DLC expansion pass. This included Part 1—The Isle of Armor (released in June 2020) and Part 2—The Crown Tundra (released in October 2020). This was the first time the Pokémon series used DLC instead of an improved version of the game.
In the game's story, a young Pokémon Trainer starts an adventure in the Galar Region with their friend and rival, Hop. They join the Gym Challenge to compete for the title of Galar League Champion after receiving a letter from Hop's brother, Leon, who is the undefeated Galar League Champion. The games added new features like the Dynamax and Gigantamax mechanics. These mechanics make a player's Pokémon grow larger and use stronger attacks in battle. Planning for the game started right after Pokémon Sun and Moon was finished in 2016. Full development began one year later. The games were made to take advantage of the Nintendo Switch's better hardware. The Dynamax mechanic was also designed to allow players to see bigger battles than before.
Pokémon games allow players to transfer Pokémon from older games to newer ones. When it was announced that Sword and Shield would not include many existing Pokémon, fans were upset. They called this situation "Dexit," a reference to Brexit, which caused a big controversy. Critics generally praised Sword and Shield for their gameplay, exploration, and mechanics, but some said the games lacked new ideas. By December 2025, the games had sold over 27 million copies worldwide. This made them the third best-selling Pokémon games. They also won awards at the SXSW Gaming Awards and the Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2019.
Gameplay
Pokémon Sword and Shield are role-playing games (RPGs) that include adventure elements. The games use a fixed camera and third-person perspective, meaning players see the action from the side, though some areas allow free camera movement. Players control a young Pokémon trainer who goes on a journey to catch and train Pokémon, and to win battles against other trainers. When a player's Pokémon defeats an opponent in a turn-based battle, they earn experience points, which help the Pokémon level up, improve their battle stats, learn new moves, and evolve into stronger forms. Wild Pokémon can be captured by weakening them in battle and using Poké Balls, which adds them to the player's team. Players can also battle and trade Pokémon with others through the Nintendo Switch's online features. Some Pokémon are only available in Sword or Shield, so players must trade to collect all Pokémon from both versions.
The games take place in the Galar Region, which is inspired by the United Kingdom. Galar has many cities and towns connected by routes. Wild Pokémon often appear in tall grass or near water along these routes. Depending on their behavior, they may run away or chase the player. The main goal in Galar is to participate in the "Gym Challenge," a tournament to determine the region's greatest Pokémon trainer (the Pokémon League Champion). Eight cities and towns in the game have stadiums where "Gym Leaders" live. These leaders specialize in certain Pokémon types. Beating a Gym Leader earns the player a "Gym badge." After collecting all eight badges, the player can enter the "Champion Cup," where they face the Gym Leaders again and then challenge the reigning Galar League Champion, Leon.
The games introduce temporary transformations called Dynamax and Gigantamax. Dynamax allows Pokémon to grow to giant sizes during battles and use powerful "Max Moves" with special effects. Gigantamax, available only to specific Pokémon, also changes their appearance and replaces one of their Max Moves with a unique "G-Max Move." Both effects last for three turns. Players can battle in teams of four, either with other players or with non-player characters, in cooperative raids against wild Pokémon that have been Dynamaxed or Gigantamaxed. These Pokémon have larger health bars and can use barriers to protect themselves. If players defeat the raid boss, they can catch the Pokémon and receive rewards. If all four of their Pokémon are knocked out or the battle lasts too long, the player loses the raid. Players can use Dynamax during raids, but the ability to do so rotates each turn.
The Wild Area is a large open space where players can move freely. Pokémon appear in the game's world, and which ones appear depends on the weather in the Wild Area, which changes daily in real life. The levels of Pokémon in the Wild Area vary widely, and players cannot catch Pokémon of certain levels until they earn specific Gym badges by progressing through the main story. Players can find items, battle non-player characters, and interact with "Raid Dens," which allow them to start raids against Dynamaxed opponents.
A new feature called "Camp" lets players set up camps with their Pokémon. In camps, players can interact with their Pokémon and use food items to cook curry. Curry can improve a Pokémon's friendship with the player and give them experience points. The difficulty of the curry recipe and ingredients used determines how much of a bonus the Pokémon receives. Players can also join online multiplayer camps with up to four others. In multiplayer camps, players can cook curry together and play with each other's Pokémon.
Other new features include "Poké Jobs," which give players tasks for their Pokémon to complete around Galar, earning experience or rare items. Regional variants, which are versions of Pokémon that look different due to where they live, return after first appearing in Pokémon Sun and Moon. Some Pokémon and Gym Leaders are only available in Sword or Shield.
Internet connectivity is needed for features like trading, battling, and meeting other trainers in the Wild Area. These features require a paid subscription to Nintendo Switch Online. Sword and Shield only support direct connections between themselves. The games are also compatible with Pokémon Home, an online storage service for Pokémon. Players can transfer Pokémon from other games, such as Pokémon Bank, Pokémon Go, and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, through Pokémon Home. If a player has save data from Let's Go, Pikachu! or Let's Go, Eevee!, they will receive a Pikachu or Eevee that can Gigantamax as an in-game gift.
Plot
Sword and Shield is set in Galar, a made-up area that looks like the United Kingdom. Many places in Galar are inspired by real locations such as Bath in Somerset and York. The southern part of Galar has countryside towns with small houses and buildings from the Victorian era. The region also includes references to the Industrial Revolution and steampunk styles. Many towns and cities in Galar have Pokémon Gyms designed to look like football stadiums, showing the games’ special moves called Dynamax and Gigantamax. Snowy mountains cover much of the northern part of Galar.
Like other Pokémon games, the player travels across Galar to become the best Pokémon Trainer. To achieve this, the player must defeat eight strong Trainers called Gym Leaders and then face the undefeated Galar League Champion, Leon. Leon is the older brother of Hop, the player’s childhood friend. Leon gives the player and Hop one of three Starter Pokémon: Grookey, Scorbunny, or Sobble. After receiving their Pokémon, the player and Hop visit a forest called the Slumbering Weald but are chased away by a powerful Pokémon. Later, they meet Pokémon Professor Magnolia and her granddaughter Sonia, who help convince Leon to let the player and Hop join the Gym Challenge. When they register for the challenge in another city, they meet rivals named Bede and Marnie, as well as Team Yell, a group of rowdy people who support Marnie and try to stop others from completing the challenge. The player also meets Rose, who supports Bede as a Gym Challenger and leads the Galar League and the region’s main energy company, Macro Cosmos.
As the story continues, the player helps Sonia study two Legendary Pokémon that once saved Galar from an ancient crisis called the Darkest Day. The player learns these Pokémon are the same ones they saw in the Slumbering Weald. After defeating the eight Gym Leaders, the player goes to Wyndon, wins the Champion’s Cup, and earns the chance to battle Leon. The next day, before the final fight, Rose wakes up the Legendary Pokémon Eternatus to use its power for unlimited energy, causing a second Darkest Day. The player and Hop team up with the two Legendary Pokémon, Zacian and Zamazenta, to stop Rose and Eternatus. After defeating them, the player catches Eternatus, and Rose turns himself in to the authorities. Three days later, the player defeats Leon in the final battle and becomes the new Galar League Champion.
In the game’s post-game, the player and Hop confront Sordward and Shielbert, two brothers who try to make Zacian and Zamazenta act violently. The player and Hop capture the brothers, who are then arrested. Hop decides to train to become a Pokémon Professor with Sonia.
Development
The planning for Pokémon Sword and Shield began right after Pokémon Sun and Moon was completed, in the months before their release in November 2016. Shigeru Ohmori, who directed Sun and Moon, formed a team to create ideas for the new games. Later, Kazumasa Iwao, who directed Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, joined the project as a planning director. One of the first ideas the team had was to make Pokémon extremely large in size to use the Switch’s high-resolution screen and TV connectivity features. Ohmori suggested creating a sword and a shield Pokémon to battle these large Pokémon, which inspired the game titles.
Game Freak designed the games around the theme of strength and striving to be the "greatest or the strongest." This theme was shown through the Switch’s power as the most advanced console for a Pokémon game, the Dynamax mechanic, and references to British folklore, including giants and mythical creatures. The idea of "growing and evolving" was an important part of the story and was emphasized throughout the games.
Full production started in September 2017. Around 1,000 people from different companies worked on the games, including development, marketing, localization, and public relations. About 200 employees from Game Freak worked directly on the games, while 100 employees from Creatures Inc. focused on 3D modeling. Another 100 people tested and debugged the games. Game Freak created a small team to carefully plan and design the game, which allowed them to include all desired features. This method replaced their earlier approach, which became too complicated due to the complexity of the game’s 3D graphics.
Before making Sword and Shield, Game Freak developed Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! as a research project to study the Switch. They used a similar code structure for Sword and Shield. The developers tried different ways to improve the traditional random encounter system and eventually changed it so players could freely find Pokémon wandering in the environment. They also tested allowing players to control the camera for better exploration, and after discussing it internally, they decided to include this feature.
When moving from the Nintendo 3DS to the Switch, Game Freak had to create new Pokémon models from scratch to match the Switch’s higher-quality and more detailed graphics. The Pokémon design process involved planners and concept artists creating settings for each Pokémon, which were written into a text file outlining each Pokémon’s role in the game. The Wild Area was designed as a large, open space that changes over time, making it feel different each time players return.
Go Ichinose and Minako Adachi composed the music, including elements of UK rock. A track was created by Toby Fox, the creator of Undertale. Ohmori said the music for regular areas used short, looping tunes, while the Wild Area had longer, more dynamic songs. These games are the first Pokémon titles with a theme song that includes lyrics.
Unlike earlier main series games, many existing Pokémon are not available in Sword and Shield. Only Pokémon from the Galar region can be transferred from previous games through Pokémon Home. Junichi Masuda, the producer, explained in a 2018 interview that including all existing Pokémon would have been too complicated and time-consuming. In 2019, he said the large number of Pokémon, combined with the need to create new features like the Dynamax mechanic and maintain game balance and quality, made it impossible to include all previous Pokémon without greatly extending the development time. He noted that Nintendo, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company all agreed to limit the number of Pokémon in the game.
Release and marketing
Sword and Shield were first mentioned in a special message by The Pokémon Company president, Tsunekazu Ishihara, during Nintendo's E3 2017 presentation. Ishihara said that Game Freak was creating a new main series Pokémon game for the Nintendo Switch, but it would not be released for more than a year. During a press conference in Japan on May 30, 2018, Game Freak announced the games would be released on the Nintendo Switch in the second half of 2019. The games were fully introduced in a special Nintendo Direct presentation on February 27, 2019. This event took place on Pokémon Day, a fan celebration marking the anniversary of the Japanese release of Pokémon Red and Green. A second Nintendo Direct about the games was held on June 5, 2019, and it shared more details about the games' features, characters, and Pokémon. The release date of November 15, 2019, was also announced during this presentation.
Game Freak intentionally limited the number of new Pokémon shown in promotional materials to encourage players to discover them in the game. For the reveals of new Pokémon, special events were used. In September, a glitched graphic on the official Pokémon website led to the reveal of Sirfetch'd. In October, a 24-hour livestream set in the games' Glimwood Tangle location revealed a regional variant of Ponyta.
A promotional event between Sword and Shield and Tetris 99 took place from November 8 to 11, offering a limited-time unlockable theme based on the games. A web app was also released, allowing users to explore the Wild Area online. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, an online tournament themed around Pokémon was held from November 15 to 18 to promote the games. Another event occurred from November 22 to 27, during which some Pokémon from the games were available as collectible spirits.
Before the games were released, images of Pokémon from the games, including some unreleased designs, were leaked through a Discord chat and later shared online. The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against the leakers, identifying four Discord accounts linked to the leaks. The company also requested information from Discord and the website 4chan about the people who leaked details about the games. The case was settled in 2021, and the leakers were required to pay $150,000 each to the company. A Portuguese website that shared leaks before the games' release was blocked by Nintendo.
A believed early version of the games, dated to around 2018, was leaked after a hacker accessed Nintendo's servers. The build was shared on internet forums like 4chan after the game's release. This version included Pokémon that were removed from the final game, such as Greninja, Ekans, a form of Rayquaza, and others. Many visual elements and models were incomplete, and the Wild Area was not fully developed. Some music tracks also had different versions than the final release. The Pokémon Company did not comment on the leak, but many believed it was an early version of the game.
During a Nintendo Direct on January 9, 2020, an expansion pass was announced. It included two parts: The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. These were released on June 17, 2020, and October 22, 2020, respectively. The expansion pass added new storylines, locations, characters, Pokémon, and other features not in the base game. A physical bundle containing both expansions and the base game was released on November 6, 2020.
Reception
The reception of the games was mostly positive. According to Metacritic, a website that collects reviews, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield received "generally favorable" reviews from critics. There were 87 reviews for Sword and 89 reviews for Shield. Another review website, OpenCritic, said the games received strong approval, with 65% of critics recommending them.
Critics praised the games for their gameplay, exploration, and mechanics. Brian Shea of Game Informer said the games had engaging battle mechanics and a sense of exploration. Casey DeFreitas of IGN called the gameplay engaging and the battle and exploration experiences compelling. Kallie Plagge of GameSpot praised the dynamic exploration and streamlined gameplay. Just Lunning of Inverse also praised the games, noting that even though fewer Pokémon were included, the games had improved features that made them more accessible to new players.
Lowell Bell of The Escapist liked the gameplay but said the games lacked difficulty. He also criticized the story, saying Chairman Rose's plot was illogical and some story moments were not given enough attention. Alex Olney of Nintendo Life enjoyed the game, praising new Pokémon, quality-of-life improvements, and the Wild Area. However, he said the game did not fully use the Nintendo Switch’s hardware and found some visuals underwhelming. Alex Donaldson of VG247 said the games were charming and captured the spirit of the series but noted some incomplete or mediocre aspects that limited their potential.
Some critics said the games lacked depth and innovation. Chris Tapsell of Eurogamer criticized the games for missing complex dungeons, detailed lore, and limited exploration, which made the games feel less ambitious than earlier titles. James Grebey and Tom Philip of GQ said the games lacked challenge and innovation and were disappointing in their execution. Mack Ashworth of GameRevolution criticized the visuals and story, comparing them to other top Switch games.
Chris Carter of Destructoid praised the visuals of Pokémon Shield and the ability to see Pokémon roaming in the overworld but said the games lacked a Global Trade System and had parts that felt "missing emotion and soul."
Donovan Erskine of Shacknews said the quality-of-life features made the games "the most accessible in the series" and praised the Wild Area and gyms. However, he criticized the games’ performance issues, such as frame rate problems, and the story.
Ben Moore of Easy Allies said the games were "largely enjoyable" but noted the absence of some beloved Pokémon, a "mediocre" story, and repetition from earlier games.
The decision to exclude many existing Pokémon caused strong reactions from fans. They called the controversy "Dexit," a combination of "Pokédex" and "Brexit," and created the hashtag "#BringBackNationalDex" on social media. Some fans wanted the games delayed until all Pokémon could be included.
Patricia Hernandez of Polygon said the backlash had some validity but had "gotten out of hand." Alex Donaldson of VG247 said the games faced "feature creep," where adding too many new features led to the removal of older ones, and long-overlooked design issues became more visible. Gita Jackson of Kotaku described the controversy as a conflict between wanting nostalgia and wanting more complexity. Joe Merrick of Serebii, a fan site, said the controversy was the most significant among Pokémon fans since the 2013 launch of Pokémon Bank.
Junichi Masuda, the game’s producer, responded to the controversy on June 28, 2019, saying the removal of some Pokémon was a difficult decision but that they would return in future games. Michael McWhertor of Polygon said Masuda’s response did not fully address fan concerns.
Additional controversy arose when data miners claimed Game Freak reused models and animations from 3DS games. This led to negative reviews on Metacritic and the hashtag #GameFreakLied trending on Twitter. Game Freak denied the claims, stating the elements were redesigned.
In Japan, Sword and Shield sold 2 million copies in their first three days, with 1.36 million sold in retail stores, making them the fastest-selling Switch games in that region. In the U.S., they sold over 2 million copies in their opening weekend. Globally, they sold over 6 million copies in their opening weekend, surpassing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the fastest-selling Switch games. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet later sold more copies and became the fastest-selling Switch game. As of May 2025, Sword and Shield had sold 26.72 million copies worldwide, making them the third-best-selling Pokémon games, behind Pokémon Red and Blue and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.