E3 has been a pretty joyous time on the Nintendo front, but one issue has been a sort not just of divisiveness but of outright indignant internet anger – namely, the announcement that Pokémon Sword & Shield will, for the first time in a new mainline Pokémon game, not be compatible with all existing Pokémon. The fallout from this announcement has been… vitriolic, shall we say, which means that a bit of damage control is probably expected. The solution would appear simple – just state that they’ll patch in the missing Pokémon after the fact, right?
Apparently it’s not so simple. In Famitsu – reported via Serebii – Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori have stated that there’s currently no decision has been reached with regards to whether or not the non-Galar Pokémon will be patched into Sword & Shield at a later date. So… it’s pretty non-committal either way. In fact, it arguably makes the situation more dire from a PR standpoint, as it will essentially amplify the volume of those who wish to see their beloved Pokémon in not-Britain. Y’know, the situation really is kinda like real-life Brexit – nobody knows exactly what’s going on or how it’s working, but everybody with even a tangential knowledge of the situation is mad about it.
Masuda and Ohmori do state that your Pokémon will have stuff to do in Pokémon Home should they be transferred there (what that entails is currently unknown, though it’s easy to imagine people won’t use the service much if they can’t bring their Pokémon into Sword & Shield). Given Masuda’s comments with USGamer recently, it appears there are several factors that purportedly played into the decision to omit Pokémon, so I imagine it’s not going to be a cut and dry decision. In the meantime, I imagine the internet will have a lively, healthy discourse free of hyperbole and overreaction, because it’s a healthy environment where everybody reacts reasonably and with measured, considerate takes. Right?
Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
