Detective Pikachu 2 Nearing Release, According to Developer Post

Detective Pikachu 2 could be nearing its long-awaited release. Earlier this week, Pokemon fans discovered that Creatures Inc. Senior Game Developer Jonathan Murphy's LinkedIn page referenced Detective Pikachu 2, a sequel to the Pokemon mystery game released in 2018. Surprisingly, Murphy described Detective Pikachu 2 as "nearing release." Since the post was publicized, Murphy changed the description so that Detective Pikachu 2 is "in development" but many fans are assuming that the game could be coming out sooner as opposed to later. 

The first Detective Pikachu game was a straightforward adventure game in which players controlled human Tim Goodman and his partner Pikachu, who could talk but couldn't use his Pokemon powers. A portion of the game involved the disappearance of Tim's dad, which seemed to be connected to the talking Pikachu in some way. The game ended on a cliffhanger, with Pikachu "making a decision" before going off to search for Tim's father with Tim's help.

The Pokemon Company announced Detective Pikachu 2 back in 2019, just months after the release of the live-action Detective Pikachu movie. Since then, The Pokemon Company has kept quiet about the progress of the game, and many assumed that it was either significantly delayed or postponed indefinitely. 

One reason for Detective Pikachu 2's long development period is that Creatures Inc. is a relatively small game studio whose work mainly comprises of making 3D Pokemon models for the main series game. Most of Creatures's projects have been supporting apps or side games such as PokePark. 

Keep in mind that LinkedIn isn't necessarily an accurate barometer of game development, and that Murphy has already adjusted his profile with a more measured description. So, fans probably shouldn't expect Detective Pikachu 2 in the very near term future. However, the game appears to still be on the way.