The Pokémon franchise is bigger than ever with several upcoming remakes and new entries on the horizon. Not only are the fan-favorite games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl finally receiving a remake, but there are also several ambitious spinoffs coming in the form of Pokémon Legends: Arceus and the long-awaited sequel to Pokémon Snap. However, a few Pokémon titles are going under the radar.
There are several other games that were supposed to be coming down the pipeline but have gone quiet. Spinoffs involving MOBA gameplay, Detective Pikachu and simply taking a nap have all been announced in the past two years, but none have manifested as of yet. A few of these haven't even received any new updates since their original announcement. Here's a look back at these forgotten Pokémon games, what they're supposed to be about, and when the community may finally see them.
Pokémon Sleep
One of the more interesting ideas to evolve the Pokémon brand is Pokémon Sleep. This weird app would have done for sleep what Niantic's Pokémon GO did for walking and tracking steps. It would have used the Pokemon GO+ device to connect to a phone's Bluetooth to track the user's sleep. How this would have manifested and what ties it would have to the series outside of different Pokémon randomly appearing was never explained.
The game was announced all the way back in 2019 but has gone completely dark since its reveal, missing its proposed 2020 release date. The brains behind the app include Select Button and Niantic. Select Button had previously worked on the Pokémon spinoff game Magikarp Jump, focused on everyone's least favorite water-type. Both that team and Niantic have been silent on Sleep however, so an eventual release may simply be a pipe dream.
Pokémon Unite
Summer 2020 brought the announcement of Pokémon Unite, a MOBA spinoff in the style of Dota 2 and other similar titles. This game would have traded in Pokémon's turn-based battles for real-time strategy bouts between teams of five Pokémon with trainers nowhere in sight. Wild Pokémon could be fought to gain EXP, and the team's attacks could be bolstered with UNITE Moves that allow all of a team's Pokémon to combine their powers. The Pokémon confirmed in the initial announcement included classics like Blastoise, Pikachu, Charizard and more recent characters like Lucario and Talonflame.
To be fair, there has been more news on Unite compared to other Pokémon spinoffs. Regional beta testing has been conducted for the game in Canada, confirming that the title hasn't simply been forgotten. Still, information on Unite has been relatively light.
Detective Pikachu 2
One of the franchise's most exciting and different spinoffs was easily Detective Pikachu. This game featured a Pikachu that could actually talk and focused on solving puzzles instead of high-octane battles. Its story was eventually adapted into a live-action movie, which was the catalyst for the game being brought to the West. After all, the Nintendo 3DS game came out in Japan in 2016, but didn't hit other countries until 2018, one year before the movie's release.
Shortly after the film's success, a sequel to the game on was announced for Nintendo Switch. This title was going to continue the first game's story and offer a different conclusion than what the movie provided. Since 2019 however, not a word has been said about Detective Pikachu 2.
It's possible that the game is being held back until closer to the release of the planned movie sequel. However, releasing the sequel game before the upcoming movie may be a smarter idea. This strategy could hype up the general audience for the film's sequel. The game has yet to be officially cancelled or delayed, but anyone looking for recent information on it will have to go searching for clues themselves.