Pokémon Sword and Shield available to pre-load on North American eShop now

With just two short weeks until the launch of Pokémon Sword and Shield, I want as few things standing in my way of playing them as possible. Good news then, as starting today when you pre-purchase the games on the Nintendo eShop, you can download them immediately, so you’ll be good to go as soon as they launch at midnight eastern time on November 15.

If you pre-purchase the digital double pack, though, it will only immediately install Pokémon Sword and then give you a code to redeem Pokémon Shield along with the other pre-order bonuses. So just know that if this is enticing and you’re planning on playing Shield right away, double pack owners may still have to download that after launch.

With both games coming in at 9.5GB, this extra time may also be useful in finding some good new microSD cards for your Switch. While those are downloading you can check out our thoughts from a recent hands-on with the games and our impressions on the latest information out of GameFreak.