Pokémon Legends Z-A Playable Early for Limited Time

Eager players wanting to get their hands on Pokémon Legends: Z-A will be able to do so, for a limited time.

There’s also a locality restriction, as you’ll need to be based in Anaheim, California, or be heading out to the Pokémon World Championships next week.

This will be the first opportunity to get hands on with the latest game, as reported on Twitter, and those in attendance can play through a short section of the upcoming game.

Thankfully, this same demo will be coming to Gamescom, a week later, in Germany, but this will still be a very limited opportunity for most fans.

Whether Nintendo plans to release a demo for the game on Switch consoles is yet to be announced, but it’s great to see them giving die-hard fans a chance to try it out.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A will be the first game of the franchise to launch for the new Nintendo Switch 2 console, so many players are excited to see how it runs.

Usually, this wouldn’t be a priority, but after the disastrous launch of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet for the Nintendo Switch, it’s understandable that fans will want to know how well it runs.

Although, it’s worth noting, Nintendo will likely be demoing the game on Nintendo Switch 2 hardware, and owners of the older console will have to wait until nearer release to see how it performs.

If you’re local to Anaheim, or flying in to take part in the World Championship, then you’ll be one of the first to play the game.

At Gamescom, we’ll bring you our own thoughts on the newest instalment in the Pokémon series, as we explore Lumiose City, and play around with the newest mega evolutions.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A launches for both Nintendo consoles on 16 October 2025.