The past couple years have been major for big-time video game franchises teaming up with musical artists. Lil Nas X performed a virtual concert in Roblox almost exactly a year ago. Ariana Grande had a major Fortnite event this year. The recent Pokémon 25: The Album project featured songs from Vince Staples, Katy Perry, and others. Now, Pokémon, in its never-ending quest to catch ’em all, is adding another musician to its growing list of music collaborators: Ed Sheeran.
Details about what’s going on between the two are (dun)sparse right now, though. All we know is that this afternoon, Sheeran shared an image that features both his name and the Pokémon Go logo and wrote, “coming soon.” So, it seems obvious Sheeran and/or his work will make some sort of in-game appearance, but given that Pokémon Go doesn’t have a precedent for celebrity collaborations, it’s not clear how this team-up will work.
Whatever the case, Sheeran has proven himself to be a major Pokémon enthusiast over the years. This summer, he noted that he met Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri and gave him a letter. He also said that the first generation of games (Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow for the Game Boy) is his favorite and that Squirtle is his favorite starter Pokémon. In 2019, he was spotted singing karaoke in Japan while wearing a Snorlax onesie. He was also tweeting about Pokémon in 2010 and 2011, like when he noted that the Pokémon Black and White games on Nintendo DS are “wicked.”
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.