'Pokemon Z' release date: Game out next year?

Zygarde

"Pokemon Z" was anticipated to have been made official by Nintendo in the recently concluded E3 2015 conference. However, to the fans' extreme disappointment, the rumored sequel to "Pokemon X and Y" did not show up at the massive gaming convention. But that doesn't stop rumor mills from churning.

It is now being said that the title is in the works and that it will be released next year so the upcoming game "Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon," which will hit shelves in Japan on September (and will be out in the US by winter and will land on Europe in spring), will be given full attention.

There are also reports claiming that the title will center on Zygarde, a Dragon/Ground-type Pokemon that dons a serpent-like appearance that is distinguished for its Z-shaped body. The green and black scaled creature is a Legendary Pokemon in "X and Y" as well.

Although there exists this glimmer of hope, it is important to take note that if ever Nintendo had plans for "Pokemon Z," it should have been mentioned in its Digital Event in E3, which saw the aforementioned dungeon role-playing 3DS game as the sole Pokemon-related release.

The first "Omega Ruby" and "Alpha Sapphire" was shown in the same event last year although it was formally announced in a different event. However, Nintendo changing things up in terms of releases might explain this.

"There's no particular reason I'm aware of," Nintendo of America executive VP for sales and marketing Scott Moffitt told iDigital Times. "One year, for example, people got used to a March or Spring Pokémon time frame and then we moved it to a fall time frame in October. So we did different things with the Pokémon franchise this year," he explained.

With all release dates and patterns considered, it is expected that should "Pokemon Z" become a thing for Nintendo, it will be released during the first quarter of 2016.