When is Pokemon Scarlet & Violet coming out? Launch date, release time & pre-load guide

Trainers around the world are counting down the days until Pokemon Scarlet and Violet finally launches this November. If you’re looking for the release date and release time for all regions, as well as how to pre-load Scarlet and Violet on Nintendo Switch, you’re in the right place.

The ninth generation of Pokemon is upon us, with a number of returning monsters, Gym leaders, Paldean regional forms, and exclusive Pokemon confirmed for both Scarlet and Violet.

Just like Pokemon Legends Arceus and Sword & Shield before it, fans are looking forward to experiencing a new world for the first time.

Here, you’ll be able to see exactly when the game becomes available depending on your location, as well as how to pre-load it.

Pokemon Scarlet Violet release date

Game Freak will release Pokemon Scarlet and Violet on November 18, 2022 – the game’s worldwide release date.

There are different pre-order bonuses for each title, so players will maybe want to familiarize themselves with those before choosing one game over the other.

How to pre-load Scarlet & Violet

The pre-load process on Nintendo Switch is simple. Follow these steps to pre-purchase your game and have it downloaded, ready to play:

1. Load up your computer or Nintendo Switch.
2. Locate the game on Nintendo.com or Nintendo eShop, on your console.
3. Select pre-purchase on the game.
4. Follow the steps to pre-purchase.
5. Start the pre-load for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, ready for launch.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet release time for different regions

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will be available to play for the first time at different times across the world, depending on your timezone – unlike Pokemon Go, which works on local time.

Using the release times of Sword and Shield as a basis, here every expected Pokemon Scarlet & Violet release time for several regions:

• United Kingdom:
  • GMT: 5:00am
• North America:
  • PT: 9:00 pm
  • ET: 12:00am (midnight)
  • MT: 10:00pm
  • CT: 11:00pm
• Japan:
  • JST: 2:00pm
• Europe:
  • CET: 6:00am
  • EET: 7:00am
  • CEST: 7:00am
  • WET: 5:00am
  • WEST: 6:00am
• Australia:
  • AEDT: 4:00pm
• New Zealand:
  • NZDT: 6:00pm
  • NZST: 5:00pm
• South America:
  • UTC-2: 3:00am
  • UTC-3: 2:00am
  • UTC-4: 1:00am
  • UTC-5: 12:00am (midnight)

Should there be any changes to the release date or times, this list will be updated above accordingly. If you would like more regions to be added to the list above, hit up the writer on Twitter before launch!

Until then, check out some more of our Pokemon guides for the upcoming Paldea region:

All new Pokemon in Scarlet & Violet | Starter Pokemon details | Pre-order guide | What is Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s region? | Everything we know about Scarlet & Violet so far | What is Terastallizing? | All Paldean forms | All new characters