Recent activity from an official Pokémon social media account has ignited speculation among fans that ports of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire for the Nintendo Switch are imminent. The account shared a 30-second clip featuring gameplay from the Game Boy Advance titles, but the footage was notably sharper and higher-definition than what was possible on the original hardware.
The video displayed crisp visuals of Wingull, the player character, and Mr. Briney in scenes from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. This has led many to believe the footage was captured using an emulator, a tactic rarely employed by official channels for older game promotions. YouTuber That Bald Gamer pointed out that the "high-res gameplay" suggests the games are not running on their original hardware, speculating that this "essentially means Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire ports are coming to the Nintendo Switch in some fashion."
Further fueling these theories is the observation that the video's length matches the Nintendo Switch's automatic gameplay recording feature, which captures the last 30 seconds. This detail, combined with the unusually high quality of the footage, has led to widespread belief that the clips are a precursor to an official announcement.
Adding weight to the possibility of new third-generation Pokémon titles on Switch, dataminers previously discovered that this year's Nintendo Switch releases of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen appeared to include support for all mainline third-generation games, including Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. While this does not confirm specific ports, it indicates that preparatory work for these titles may already be underway.
Previous remakes of Game Boy Advance titles have performed exceptionally well on the Nintendo Switch. Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, for example, sold over 4 million units in their first six weeks on the system, suggesting a strong market appetite for updated versions of beloved older Pokémon games. A similar reception could be expected for enhanced ports of Ruby and Sapphire.