Pokemon fans have been bracing for a price hike for years. Now there's documentation to back up what many suspected: The Pokemon Company has had its eye on higher price tags since at least the Sword and Shield era, and the conditions that stopped it then no longer exist.
What the teraleak documents actually say
The documentation, surfaced this week by social media aggregate account Centro Leaks, originates from the broader Pokemon teraleak and dates back to roughly 2018-2020. The key detail: The Pokemon Company wanted to charge more for mainline Pokemon games as far back as Sword and Shield, but held off because no competitor had yet normalized higher price points in North America. The logic was straightforward. If you're the first major franchise to break the $60 ceiling, you absorb the backlash alone. So they waited.
The same documents also flagged dual-version purchasing behavior. Sales data included in the leak showed that 41% of players bought both Pokemon Sun and Moon, 50% bought both Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and only 23% picked up both Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee. That drop-off with Let's Go likely reflects the spin-off nature of that release rather than franchise fatigue, but it's telling that The Pokemon Company was tracking this metric so closely.
The market has changed completely since Sword and Shield
Here's the thing: the competitive cover that held The Pokemon Company back in 2019 is gone. Mario Kart World launched at $80. GTA 6 is a $100 game with an $80 standard option. Nintendo itself restructured its pricing on Switch 2, making digital releases roughly $10 cheaper than physical copies. The old $60 standard is effectively a historical artifact at this point.
Pokemon Winds and Waves, developed by Game Freak and set for a 2027 release on Switch 2, is shaping up to be the biggest Pokemon game ever built. It's an open-world RPG with MMO-adjacent multiplayer systems, regional forms, and what appears to be the series' largest region to date. That scope costs money to make, and The Pokemon Company now has a market that has already accepted $80-$100 price points from comparable titles.
Before and after: how Pokemon pricing has held steady while everything else moved
For context, mainline Pokemon games have sat at the $60 mark on Switch for years. Sword and Shield launched at $60 in 2019. Scarlet and Violet launched at $60 in 2022. That consistency was notable even as other publishers tested higher prices, but it wasn't generosity on The Pokemon Company's part. The leaked documents suggest it was strategic patience.
The math now points in one direction. If Pokemon Winds and Waves releases at $70, it would still be $10 below Mario Kart World and $30 below GTA 6's premium tier. At $80, it matches Nintendo's current flagship pricing and falls in line with what players have already accepted this console generation. Either scenario represents a meaningful jump from Scarlet and Violet, but neither would be an outlier in the current market.
Players already spending on Pokemon Champions know how quickly costs add up. If you're evaluating whether the Pokemon Champions Battle Pass and membership are worth paying for, a higher upfront cost on the next mainline entry is worth factoring into your Pokemon budget.
What this means for players planning ahead
No official price has been announced, and The Pokemon Company is unlikely to confirm one for several months at minimum. But the combination of leaked internal intent, a completely shifted market, and the scale of Winds and Waves makes a price increase the most logical outcome. The only real question is whether it lands at $70, $80, or pushes further.
The dual-version structure is also worth watching. If The Pokemon Company is still tracking dual-purchase rates and actively encouraging players to buy both versions, the total cost of experiencing everything Winds and Waves has to offer could be considerably higher than the base price alone.
For players already deep in the Pokemon ecosystem, it's worth checking out our gaming guides for everything from Pokemon Champions box management to shiny hunting rankings in Pokemon Legends: Z-A while the wait for Winds and Waves pricing news continues.
