Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were announced on Pokemon Day back in February, and fans are eagerly waiting for more information about what new Pokemon will be included in Gen 9 or what the main gimmick will be. A new trailer is supposedly coming in a month or two, following the pattern for past releases, as the end of spring or early summer are often good dates to reveal more about games coming later that same year. In fact, if no delays are announced for the official release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Generation 9 games are set to become available in late 2022.
There is no date set in stone at this time, which has been a common thing to do in the industry for developers who couldn't fully anticipate the impact the pandemic would have on release schedules. However, there are valid reasons why Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are unlikely to be delayed, and it's also plausible that the games already have an estimated release date set for the end of this year, which could be predicted based on the patterns for previous titles. Not all Pokemon games have been consistent with release dates over time, but more recent Generations have indeed shown a few preferences on The Pokemon Company's part.
What The Most Likely Release Date For Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is
Before delving into the patterns for recent titles, it's worth noting that The Pokemon Company's approach with all mainline games prior to Pokemon X and Y has not been that of a single worldwide release date. In fact, games were often released in Japan first, then with short delays in locations like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea, and with major delays in the rest of the world. It was not uncommon for Pokemon games to come out months or even a full year later in the United States or in Europe compared to Japan, for example, which was mainly attributed to the aspects concerning localization and shipping.
However, Pokemon X and Y was the first mainline game to be released worldwide on the same date, which was on October 12, 2013. This date was likely chosen because it meant the games would be available prior to the holiday season across the world, which is always a good time to ship games due to the increased volume of sales. The trend continued even with remakes like Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, which only had a small difference in release dates since the games became available a week later in Europe only, with the original release date being November 21, 2014.
Similarly, Pokemon Sun and Moon were released worldwide on November 18, 2016, whereas they became available in Europe starting November 23 of the same year. A year later, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were released on November 17. Even Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! retained the same schedule for 2018, becoming available on November 16 of that year. The final mainline releases that should be considered for this pattern are Pokemon Sword and Shield, which launched on November 15, 2019.
It's worth mentioning that all these release dates occurred on a Friday, which makes sense from a marketing perspective, but it also helps narrow down the possible release date for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. At this rate, it's very likely that Generation 9 games will launch worldwide in November and on a Friday, which means that the most plausible candidates are November 11, November 18, November 25, and possibly December 2. Obviously, this remains a prediction, but the pattern set by previous games does have its own consistency and reliability.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are scheduled to release on Switch in 2022.