Pokémon Sword and Shield Direct coming before E3

If you thought you were going to have to wait until E3 2019 for some new details on Pokémon Sword and Shield you were (probably quite happily) mistaken.

Yes, despite the fact that one of the world’s biggest gaming conventions is only two weeks away and Nintendo itself will be broadcasting a Direct from there, the gaming giant and The Pokémon Company have announced that there will be a dedicated Sword and Shield Direct taking place on June 5.

The Direct will broadcast on Nintendo’s YouTube and Twitch channels at 2pm BST/ 6am PT/ 9am ET and run for around 15 minutes, during the course of which fans will get to see brand new information about the Switch games that are due to launch later this year.

That's not all, folks

That’s not the only Pokémon news that will be announced this week. The Pokémon Company has also confirmed that it will host a press conference on May 28 at 6pm PT, 9pm ET or 2am on May 29 BST. The conference itself is taking place in Tokyo but it will be live-streamed and available to watch on the company’s YouTube and Twitch channels.

This conference will stand separate to the Sword and Shield Direct, so it’s likely to feature a wider range of Pokémon news. What exactly will be mentioned isn’t known just yet but the company has said there will be “a number of topics of interest to Pokémon fans”.

That’s a lot of news to reveal this close to E3 but it’s a bonus for Pokémon fans looking for a closer look at the new Galar region and bodes well for a jam-packed press conference from Nintendo on June 11.