Nintendo Switch
Pokémon Sword / Pokémon Shield
ポケットモンスター ソード・シールド · 寶可夢 劍／盾
- Perfect: No noticeable issues start to finish
- Playable: Can be finished; minor glitches or slowdowns
- In-game: Gets in-game, but issues get in the way
- Menus: Reaches the title screen or menus only
- Boots: Starts, then hangs on a black screen or intro
- Nothing: Does not start
Yes, and PC is the best platform: Ryubing lists it as In-game (may hang or crash, local wireless works), and a November 2025 user comparison on the same RTX 3050 laptop found Eden 5-30% faster than Ryubing 1.3.3, close to 60fps at 1x, though Eden v0.2.1 has reports of occasional hangs during forced saves. Sword and Shield have different Title IDs (Sword 0100ABF008968000, Shield 01008DB008C2C000). MeloNX runs it at about 1080p/30fps on an M4 iPad Pro, and MeloNX 2.7 on an iPhone 13 Pro is reported playable at about 30fps with frequent stutter (JIT required); as of November 1, 2026, nxnative (a native port tool, not an emulator; needs update 1.3.2 and an iPhone 15 Pro or newer) officially runs it on both iPhone and Mac, at 30fps on Mac. On Android, Snapdragon 865 or newer mostly gets 25-30fps on Eden or Sudachi, dropping to 10-20fps in the Wild Area, and there's a Mac emulator report of a crash after character creation.
Settings & known issues
- Odd lighting on characters in Eden for Android? Set GPU mode to Accurate; fps drops to the low 20s (user report).
- Eden v0.2.1 can hang for good during forced saves (Max Raid Adventures etc.); save manually first (issue #758).
- MeloNX on iPhone crashes often at first; it stabilizes after a few launches build the shader cache (user report).
- On Ryubing, keyboard input can't switch to docked mode; use a controller (user report).
- Catching Pokémon occasionally freezes and needs a restart, so save often (user reports).
- nxnative supports only update 1.3.2; Sword and Shield are packed separately.
Compatibility reports
| Platform | Emulator | Result | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | Eden | Perfect | Legion Go S 8APU1 Z1 Extreme | emuready.com 2026-04-19 |
| Windows | Ryubing 1.3.3 | Perfect | Resolution (source field says "100x", likely a data entry format issue) · Intel Core i5-11400F | emuready.com 2026-04-15 |
| Windows | Eden 0.2.0 | Perfect | Avg 60 FPS; resolution 1x; handheld mode · Intel Core i5-12600KF | emuready.com 2026-03-30 |
| Windows | Citron citron | Perfect | Resolution (source field says "1920x", likely a data entry format issue) 1080; handheld mode · Intel Core I5-13420H | emuready.com 2026-01-20 |
| Windows | Eden 0.0.3 | Perfect | Avg 30 FPS; resolution 2x; docked mode · AMD Ryzen 5 5600 | emuready.com 2025-12-31 |
| Windows | Citron Citron 0.11.0 | Perfect | Resolution field literally says "resolution"; docked mode · Intel Core Ultra 7 265K | emuready.com 2025-12-25 |
| Windows | Eden | Playable | 4K 30FPS · RTX 5070 Ti + R7 9800X3D | youtube.com 2026-10-26 |
| Windows | Eden 0.2.1 | Playable | Resolution 1x; handheld mode · AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D | emuready.com 2026-10-03 |
| Windows | Sudachi refresh-c7431bd | Playable | Resolution (source field says "1440x", likely a data entry format issue) 2160; docked mode · AMD Ryzen 5 5600G | emuready.com 2026-06-23 |
| Windows | Ryubing 1´.2.1 | Playable | Resolution 1x · Intel Core i3-10100F | emuready.com 2026-06-04 |
| Windows | Ryubing 1.3.307 | Playable | Avg 54 FPS; resolution (source field says "25x", likely a data entry format issue) · Intel Core i7-10700F | emuready.com 2026-05-31 |
| Windows | Eden | Playable | ROG Ally X (handheld) | emuready.com 2026-05-12 |
| Windows | Eden 0.2.0-rc1 | Playable | Avg 30 FPS; resolution 1x; docked mode · AMD Ryzen 7 7700 | emuready.com 2026-02-21 |
| Windows | Citron 0.12.25 | Playable | Resolution 1080p; handheld mode · Intel Core i3-3225 | emuready.com 2025-12-28 |
| Windows | Ryubing 1.3.3 | Playable | Handheld Turbo mode: 2x about 40 FPS, 1x about 55 FPS; Silent mode: 2x 36-37, 1x about 40 · i5-11400H | reddit.com 2025-11-06 |
| Windows | Ryubing | Playable | 0.8x resolution never drops below 23 fps; on Eden it drops frames often and is capped at 30 · i5 11th Gen | reddit.com 2025-11-06 |
| Windows | Eden | Playable | Laptop Turbo mode: 2x handheld 44-45 FPS, 2x docked 39-40 FPS, 1x 57-60 FPS; Silent… · i5-11400H | reddit.com 2025-11-06 |
| Windows | Eden 0.0.3-rc2 | Playable | Avg 15-20 FPS; resolution 1x; handheld mode · Intel Core i7-7700K | emuready.com 2025-08-12 |
| Windows | Eden v0.2.1 | In-game | github.com 2026-11-01 | |
| Windows | Ryubing | In-game | github.com 2024-08-26 | |
| Windows | yuzu | In-game | github.com 2023-12-15 | |
| Linux / Steam Deck | Eden | Perfect | Steam Deck | emuready.com 2026-10-04 |
| Linux / Steam Deck | Eden 0.2.0-rc2 | Perfect | Resolution 1x; docked mode · AMD Ryzen 7 7700 | emuready.com 2026-04-08 |
| Linux / Steam Deck | Eden 0.2.0-rc2 | Playable | Avg 30 FPS; resolution 1x; docked mode · AMD Ryzen 5 5600G | emuready.com 2026-05-01 |
| Linux / Steam Deck | Eden 0.2.0 | Playable | Resolution 1x; handheld mode · AMD Ryzen 5 5600 | emuready.com 2026-04-12 |
| Linux / Steam Deck | Eden 0.0.4 | Playable | Avg 60 FPS; resolution 0.75x; docked mode · AMD Ryzen 3 3200G | emuready.com 2025-12-05 |
| Mac | nxnative | Playable | 30 FPS (as on Switch); game 1.3.2 | nxnative.dev 2026-11-01 |
| Mac | Ryujinx | Playable | github.com 2024-08-12 | |
| Mac | Ryujinx 1.1.1140 | Playable | MacBook Pro 14" M3 Max 36GB | youtube.com 2024-01-28 |
| iPhone / iPad | nxnative | Playable | 30 FPS (as on Switch); game 1.3.2 | nxnative.dev 2026-11-01 |
| iPhone / iPad | MeloNX 2.7 | Playable | About 30 FPS with frequent stutter; 15-20 after entering buildings · iPhone 13 Pro (6GB) | reddit.com 2026-10-28 |
| iPhone / iPad | MeloNX | Playable | iPhone 15 Plus | reddit.com 2025-05-05 |
| iPhone / iPad | MeloNX 1.2.1 | Playable | 1080p / 30fps · iPad Pro M4 16GB (iPadOS 18.3.1) | youtube.com 2025-02-26 |
| iPhone / iPad | MeloNX | In-game | iPhone 12 Pro Max | reddit.com 2025-11-05 |
| iPhone / iPad | MeloNX 1.7.0 | In-game | 720p / 30fps; about 6GB memory · iPhone 16 Pro Max 8GB (iOS 18.4) | youtube.com 2025-04-13 |
| Android | Eden | Playable | 10-20 FPS in the Wild Area, 20-30 FPS in towns · POCO F6 (Snapdragon 8s Gen 3) | reddit.com 2026-10-30 |
| Android | Eden Nightly | Playable | Description: about 30 FPS · POCO F6 | youtube.com 2026-08-17 |
| Android | Eden 0.2.1 | Playable | Not stated · Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 | emuready.com 2026-08-13 |
| Android | Eden 0.2.1 | Playable | User-reported avg: 25-30 fps · Motorola Moto G200 | emuready.com 2026-06-28 |
| Android | Eden | Playable | Title/description claims a stable 60FPS (author's settings guide) · Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 device | youtube.com 2026-04-03 |
| Android | Eden 0.2.0-rc2 | Playable | User-reported avg: 30 fps · OnePlus 13R | emuready.com 2026-03-23 |
| Android | Sudachi 99775b8 | Playable | Not stated · Motorola Moto G20 | emuready.com 2026-02-08 |
| Android | Citron Tengo | Playable | User-reported avg: "Usually" (no number given) · Retroid Pocket 5 | emuready.com 2026-01-29 |
| Android | Citron Brian | Playable | Not stated · Retroid Pocket 5 | emuready.com 2026-01-27 |
| Android | yuzu Vxhg | Playable | Not stated · Retroid Pocket 5 | emuready.com 2026-01-27 |
| Android | yuzu Benjamin | Playable | Not stated · Retroid Pocket 5 | emuready.com 2026-01-27 |
| Android | Sudachi v1.0.15 | Playable | Not stated · Retroid Pocket 5 | emuready.com 2025-07-24 |
Game info
- Developer
- Game Freak
- Publisher
- Nintendo / The Pokémon Company
- Released
- 2019-11-15
- Genre
- RPG / Strategy
- Title ID
- 0100ABF008968000
- Updated
- 2026-11-01
FAQ
Can I play Pokémon Sword / Pokémon Shield on Windows with an emulator?
The best reported result on Windows is "Perfect" with Eden (report from 2026-04-19). Results vary by device and emulator version.
Can I play Pokémon Sword / Pokémon Shield on Mac with an emulator?
The best reported result on Mac is "Playable" with nxnative, 30 FPS (as on Switch); game 1.3.2 (report from 2026-11-01). Results vary by device and emulator version.
Can I play Pokémon Sword / Pokémon Shield on iPhone / iPad with an emulator?
The best reported result on iPhone / iPad is "Playable" with nxnative, 30 FPS (as on Switch); game 1.3.2 (report from 2026-11-01). Results vary by device and emulator version.
Can I play Pokémon Sword / Pokémon Shield on Android with an emulator?
The best reported result on Android is "Playable" with Eden, 10-20 FPS in the Wild Area, 20-30 FPS in towns (report from 2026-10-30). Results vary by device and emulator version.
Where can I find the Pokémon Sword / Pokémon Shield ROM?
Switch emulators load games as XCI (cartridge) or NSP (digital) files; this game's Title ID is 0100ABF008968000. You also need prod.keys and firmware; what they are and which folder they go in is covered in our "prod.keys, title.keys and Firmware Explained" guide. →
Related guides
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