The case for Pokemon Black and White remakes in 2024

A number of persistent leaks seem to indicate that Pokemon Black and White remakes are on the way, but are they really credible? Today, we’re looking into all of the information we have available on potential remasters and asking you: do you think we’re getting Black and White remakes sooner rather than later?

The real answer: probably not. Pokemon Legends: Z-A was announced earlier this year, and it’s slated for release in 2025. Though the initial trailer didn’t reveal any footage, a good number of fans are excited that The Pokemon Company appears to be taking their time with this game (at least, compared to more recent games in the series, which have drawn criticism for rushed development cycles, among other things). So why would Pokemon Black and White remakes even be in consideration for release in 2024, with that in mind?!

Why would Pokemon Black and White remakes happen this year?

Given that Pokemon Legends: Z-A is releasing in 2025, that means 2024 is currently set to be the first year where Pokemon does not release a new mainline title or DLC for the holidays since 2015. That’s almost ten years! While we’d love to see The Pokemon Company take all the time they need to put together quality Pokemon Black and White remakes, it does seem just a little bit doubtful that they’d skip 2024 – a year where the Switch is generally doing rather well in terms of sales. This tidbit is nowhere near enough to warrant discussing potential remasters on its own, however.

Earlier this year, known and credible leaker Pyoro mentioned hearing about an outsourced Unova-related game. Pokemon Legends: Z-A is neither outsourced nor in Unova, so the tweet can’t be referring to this game. It’s also important to note that the prediction is, to our knowledge, the only case where Pyoro has gotten information wrong (though they did say to take the claim with several grains of salt). Again, though, this tweet isn’t quite enough to warrant a discussion of Pokemon Black and White remakes on its own, either.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were released in 2021, and they were the first outsourced main series games. Though the titles sold incredibly well, they were criticized by reviewers for their graphics, their failure to carry over Platinum-exclusive content, and more. Though the games do absolutely have merit as an easy way to play Diamond and Pearl in 2024, it’s safe to say that they were negatively received – at least critically. If The Pokemon Company is really working on an outsourced pair of Pokemon Black and White remakes, they’re likely sticking with ILCA – not only did Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl sell extremely well, but ILCA also currently maintains Pokemon Home on Switch.

What does this have to do with Pokemon Black and White, then? A couple of months ago, The Pokemon Company established a new Pokemon Works subsidiary in the same building as ILCA. This was officially announced in early March – after the Pokemon Presents that revealed Pokemon Legends: Z-A. If Pokemon Black and White remakes really do exist, it’s possible they weren’t revealed back in February because Pokemon Works hadn’t been fully established just yet. If they were to be revealed sometime soon, they’d be able to reveal Pokemon Works as the developer rather than ILCA, even though they would theoretically still have a hand in their development.

To be perfectly clear, this could just be a number of coincidences lining up: the remakes skipping Pokemon Presents because Pokemon Works hadn’t been established, Pyoro hearing about an outsourced Unova game that didn’t come true at the time, and Pokemon seemingly skipping a holiday season for the first time. It may very well be that The Pokemon Company is pushing back its projects to give them more time, and if that’s the case, the games will absolutely be better for it in the end.

Are there any other hints to their existence?

There’s only one more hint that could point to Pokemon Black and White remakes: The Indigo Disk DLC for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. That being said, it’s difficult to tell whether all of the Unova content present in Scarlet and Violet is meant to foreshadow Black and White remakes or serve as a “replacement” of sorts that holds them off for a while. Still, if remasters were to be announced, we’d look at all the Unova content in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and wonder how we didn’t take it as a not-so-subtle foreshadowing of what was to come.

Overall, it is sort of strange how many little things seem to come together to point towards the existence of Pokemon Black and White remakes. Do you think these things are just a coincidence, or do you think they point to something that might actually exist after all? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.