Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have officially revealed Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's release date as November 19, and the Gen IV remakes are now available to pre-order. This comes only a few months after their Pokémon Day reveal in February alongside the open-world Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and each title's more vague release windows have been replaced with concrete dates.
The Pokémon Diamond and Pearl remakes are poised to modernize the Nintendo DS classics when they launch for Nintendo Switch. The original games' mix of 2D sprites and some 3D elements were revealed to be replaced by fully 3D models and environments in the Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl reveal trailer. While the remakes' art style choices have been called into question by fans of the originals, the Switch redos will likely also add new quality-of-life improvements to the classic experience of each title, though it's still not clear what all will be changed or added. When the remakes launch, the Zelda: Breath of the Wild-reminiscent sister game won't be far behind, as Pokémon Legends: Arceus releases in January 2021.
On the official Pokémon website, The Pokémon Company now lists the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl remakes as releasing on November 19, 2020. It was a sudden and fairly low-key drop as far as release dates go, especially considering how widely requested and anticipated the Gen IV remakes have been among players. The games are now listed separately for $60 and in a $120 Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Double Pack on the Nintendo eShop and are available for pre-order now.
Now that Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's release date is set, it's now known that there's less than six months until the games' launch. The November date marks only a little over 15 years since the original releases of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl for the Nintendo DS, so the games are sure to find an all-new audience on Nintendo Switch this fall, in addition to the many players who have been waiting for a decade-and-a-half for the Sinnoh region's return on modern hardware. Those Gen IV die-hards are also in luck, as Pokémon Legends: Arceus is also set in Sinnoh, albeit in the Pokémon series' distant past.
With a solid release date now public and pre-purchases live, it can be expected that specific details about how the Diamond and Pearl remakes will play on Switch aren't be far behind. A rumor that recently surfaced online claims that a Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Pokémon Presents is coming in June, so it may be an even shorter wait to learn what players can expect in November than anticipated.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will be available for Nintendo Switch on November 19, 2021.
Sources: The Pokémon Company, Nintendo