The long-awaited sequel to Detective Pikachu might finally be ready for release, as a new job posting is claiming that the game will be released soon. The original Detective Pikachu launched on Nintendo 3DS in 2016, but only in Japan, as the international release wouldn’t happen until 2018, ahead of the launch of its live-action movie adaptation in 2019.
While the mainline Pokémon video games consist of RPGs, Detective Pikachu was a crime-solving adventure game, closer to Phoenix Wright than Final Fantasy. The titular detective was once owned by a trainer named Harry Goodman, who has gone missing. Detective Pikachu teams up with Tim Goodman, Harry’s son, in order to find their missing person, and solve crimes in the Pokémon world along the way.
The Pokémon Company announced a sequel to Detective Pikachu for Nintendo Switch back in 2019, along with a mobile title called Pokémon Sleep, Since then, Pokémon Sleep and Detective Pikachu 2 have vanished, with no mention of their release dates or even if they’re still in development. It seems that news about Detective Pikachu 2 could be arriving soon, though. According to the LinkedIn profile of Creatures Inc. employee Jonathan Murphy (as spotted by Nintendo Life), he mentions that he worked on Detective Pikachu 2, which is nearing release. Murphy has since amended the post to remove the part about it launching soon.
Detective Pikachu 2 Could Be Released Soon
If Detective Pikachu 2 is launching soon, then it’s odd that The Pokémon Company hasn’t promoted it. One possible reason is that the company doesn’t want another big title around the time Pokémon Scarlet and Violet launches in November. It’s possible that The Pokémon Company will use a similar campaign as last year, when Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl launched in November and Pokémon Legends: Arceus launched the following January.
The Pokémon Company might also have lost interest in Detective Pikachu 2 since the 2019 announcement, as it doesn’t appear that the film franchise will be continuing. The second Detective Pikachu game is actually finishing the story of the first game, and the developers have promised a different ending from the one seen in the film. The chance to cross-promote a new Detective Pikachu game with a sequel movie has long since passed, so The Pokémon Company might just want to get it out of the door at this point. The last Pokémon Presents from August 2022 was focused on Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but another Pokémon Presents could happen later in the year to promote Detective Pikachu 2.
Source: Nintendo Life, Jonathan Murphy/LinkedIn
