Cyberx
- Pokémon Bank is shutting down in 2027, but rumors suggest older Pokémon games could soon have a new home.
- That option will disappear next year.
- For Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, classic releases could also be a fairly straightforward way to make money.
Pokémon Bank is shutting down in 2027, but rumors suggest older Pokémon games could soon have a new home.
Pokémon fans may soon have a new reason to dust off their nostalgia. Pokémon Bank is officially shutting down on February 26, 2027. While that news is disappointing for players who still rely on the service, it could also be setting the stage for something much more interesting.
According to the sources, Pokémon Bank has been an important part of moving Pokémon from older generations into newer games. Even after the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShops closed, players who had already downloaded Pokémon Bank could continue using it. That meant Pokémon from much older games could still make their way through the generations and eventually reach Pokémon HOME.
The problem is that the process has never been particularly simple. Moving Pokémon from an old game can involve several systems and multiple steps. For dedicated collectors, though, the hassle was worth it because it meant keeping Pokémon that had been with them for years.
That option will disappear next year.
Interestingly, the timing has sparked speculation that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company could be preparing another way for fans to revisit those older games. Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald are reportedly planned for release on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 around September or October. If that happens, it would be a convenient time.
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen are also expected to receive Pokémon HOME support in October. Put those plans together with the upcoming Pokémon Bank shutdown, and it starts to look less like a coincidence. Could the company be slowly moving classic Pokémon games onto modern consoles instead of keeping players dependent on an aging 3DS service?
That would certainly make sense. Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald would be obvious choices. All three launched on the Game Boy Advance and remain among the most popular games from Pokémon's early years. Emerald, in particular, still has a huge following thanks to its expanded content and improvements over Ruby and Sapphire.
Nintendo could release all three games at once, or sell them separately. If the rumored releases follow the pricing of other classic Pokémon games, around $20 each would not be surprising. And considering how much nostalgia surrounds these games, it would be easy to imagine them selling extremely well. The bigger question is what happens after Hoenn.
Plenty of older Pokémon games still deserve a modern-hardware revival. The Nintendo DS era alone has several titles that remain difficult to access today. Some have already received remakes, but plenty of original experiences have never made the jump to current platforms.
For Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, classic releases could also be a fairly straightforward way to make money.
The original games already have an established audience, and adding features such as Pokémon HOME support could make them much more appealing to modern players. More importantly, it would give longtime fans a way to keep playing these games without relying on increasingly old hardware and complicated transfer methods.
So while Pokémon Bank is preparing to say goodbye, its shutdown may not necessarily mean the end of classic Pokémon support. It could actually mark the beginning of a new approach. If Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald really do arrive on Switch and Switch 2, the big question is simple: which classic Pokémon game gets the call next?
