Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! Are “Core Pokemon Titles” – Masuda

Nintendo’s Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! have been fairly successful for Nintendo thus far. Both versions combined have sold three million units worldwide already, with 1.5 million unit sales coming from North America. Though the influence of Pokemon GO has been known from the outset, director Junichi Masuda insists that they are “core Pokemon titles”, not spin-offs.

In a message in the game’s official strategy guide (via Nintendo Everything), Masuda said, “These games aren’t spin-offs. These are core Pokemon titles. As for whether we would make other games that could connect to Pokemon GO, that will depend on how the games are received. If we hear a lot of people saying that they enjoyed being able to bring Pokemon to these games from Pokemon GO, then we’ll think about maybe having future titles also be able to connect to it.”

As such, the reception to Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! has been pretty positive. In our own review, we praised the changes made to the core formula, along with the soundtrack and art-style. Those who haven’t been able to get into the Pokemon Let’s Go games won’t have to worry, however. The developer has stated that “core series RPGs” for Pokemon will be coming to the Switch in late 2019.

Though we don’t have any information about the next Pokemon titles, they may have new blood at the helm. Masuda has stated before that Pokemon Let’s Go may “probably” be his final game as director. “It’s important to have the younger generation at Game Freak take over the development of Pokemon as a series,” he said.