In what may be the least expected collaboration of 2021, Pokémon Go is joining forces with singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran for an in-game performance.
That’s right: Starting Monday Nov. 22 at 11:00 a.m. PT, players will be able to access songs from Sheeran via the in-game News section in the app.
The two day celebration will also feature an influx of water type starter Pokémon (Sheeran’s favourite, apparently), and will bring back the beloved version of Squirtle wearing sunglasses from the series — first added in a Pokémon Go Community Day in 2018.
Pokémon Go took to Twitter late on Wednesday to announce the event in a series of tweets:
It’s not completely new to perform songs within a game — Fortnite has been doing this for years with in-game concerts by Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, and Marshmellow.
In case you were wondering, the Sheeran songs available within Pokémon Go will be “Perfect”, “Bad Habits”, “Overpass Graffiti”, “Thinking Out Loud”, “First Times”, and “Shivers”. There will also be event bonuses (players can get a surprise by taking a snapshot each day), as well as a new sweatshirt avatar item with the = album logo, available via a special code.
You can watch Sheeran in Pokémon Go anytime from Monday Nov. 22, 2021 at 11 a.m. PT and Tuesday Nov. 30 at 1 p.m. PT.
