Gaming

Pokémon Legends 3 Update Leaves Black and White Remake Fans Waiting

A new Pokémon Legends 3 update suggests that fans may be waiting much longer for Pokémon Black and White remakes.

A new Pokémon Legends 3 development leak might be disappointing for fans waiting for the long-rumored Pokémon Black and White remakes. According to a prominent leaker, the next Legends game is still in development at Game Freak, while no Unova remakes are reportedly planned as of April 2026.

Pokémon Legends 3 Is Still in Development According to Leaker

Pokémon Legends 3 Update
Screenshot: The Pokémon Company

In April, a major Pokémon leak surfaced online, reportedly revealing which games were in development at Game Freak. According to the report, Pokémon Black and White remakes were not currently in development at the company. Well, a new update to the leak today suggests that this is still the case.

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In a recent post on X, CentroLeaks confirmed that Pokémon Legends 3 is still in development, and that Game Freak is continuing to prioritize the spinoff series over traditional remakes. “Yes, as we mentioned a couple months ago, Karasu is the codename of Legends 3” the account wrote.

Although the original report also specifically said the Unova remakes were “currently not” in development. Therefore, it doesn’t completely rule out Pokémon Black and White remakes happening eventually in the future. That said, if the leaked development schedule is still accurate, the long-awaited Gen 5 remakes would likely be years away.

Pokémon Legends 3 Update Leak
Screenshot: X @CentroLeaks

While The Pokémon Company never said Unova remakes were coming, many fans have been expecting them, given that the series had regularly released remakes up until 2021 before stopping with the Sinnoh region.

Pokémon Legends Might Have Replaced Pokémon Remakes

Pokémon Black and White Remakes Switch 2
Screenshot: The Pokémon Company, Nintendo

The last Pokémon remakes we got were Gen 4’s Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. However, they were also the first remakes that weren’t developed by Game Freak. In a first for the franchise, development was handed off to third-party studio ILCA.

Here is a list of all the Pokémon remakes and their North American release dates:

Pokémon RemakesOriginal GamesRelease Date
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreenPokémon Red and GreenSeptember 9, 2004
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilverPokémon Gold and SilverMarch 14, 2010
Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha SapphirePokémon Ruby and SapphireNovember 21, 2014
Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!Pokémon YellowNovember 16, 2018
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining PearlPokémon Diamond and PearlNovember 19, 2021

As you can see, we got Pokémon remakes covering Gen 1 through Gen 4. So naturally, many players expected Pokémon Black and White to be the next games to get the HD treatment, especially since Gen 5 was released internationally over 15 years ago in 2011.

However, looking at this list also makes it seem like the Pokémon Legends series might have replaced traditional Pokémon remakes. In 2022, Pokémon Legends: Arceus had us revisiting an ancient version of the Sinnoh region called Hisui. The more recent Pokémon Legends: Z-A also brought players back to the Pokémon X and Y region of Kalos in 2025.

Now, the latest update claims that Pokémon Legends 3 is still in development instead of a traditional remake. That doesn’t necessarily mean Game Freak has abandoned Pokémon remakes entirely, but it could explain why we haven’t received one since Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Screenshot: The Pokémon Company

Of course, none of this has been officially confirmed by Game Freak or The Pokémon Company, so it should be taken with a grain of salt. The Unova information is also from April, meaning its status could have changed since then. But if the original leak is still accurate, Pokémon Black and White fans might have to wait much longer before returning to Gen 5.

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