A lot of brand new information for the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield was revealed very recently, which confirmed a still mysterious new mechanic that will allow any of a player's beloved Pokemon to be used competitively and a slight change to the series' EXP Share. But possibly the one a lot of fans will care about is some further details regarding the controversial decision to not include every Pokemon in the newest games.

This news was first announced at E3 and led to fan outrage and a severe backlash towards both Game Freak and Nintendo. In an interview with Game Informer, producer Junichi Masuda reiterated why the decision was made. Essentially, with over 800 Pokemon having been made over the last two decades, it just became increasingly difficult to keep every new entry balanced, and maintaining this status quo meant that new ideas and features had to be abandoned.

RELATED: Pokemon Anime New Character Played by My Hero Academia Star

"Up until now, we’ve been proud we’ve been able to include so many Pokemon in the games, but as a result of that, there’s actually been quite a few features or gameplay ideas that we’ve had to abandon in the past. Going forward, thinking about the future of Pokemon, we want to prioritize all those new gameplay ideas, new ways to enjoy the game, and want to challenge ourselves at Game Freak to create new ways to enjoy the game. That’s really what drove the decision for this new direction."

Masuda also explained how the team decided which Pokemon would get to appear in Sword and Shield and which wouldn't. There was apparently "a lot of debate over which ones would be the best in the game." A lot of different criteria had to be met, such as which Pokemon would make the most sense to be living in the new region of Galar.

"I think one example of that is figuring out the Pokemon that would make sense for the setting of the game the most; these Pokemon look like they could live in the Galar region. We really spent a lot of effort deciding which would best fit the setting of the adventure and the features that we wanted to implement. I think players will be satisfied. There’s quite a few Pokémon that you’ll encounter in the Galar region Pokedex, so I think players will have fun seeing all the Pokemon."

Masuda didn't elaborate on how many Pokemon wouldn't make the cut or which ones they would be (though recent rumors suggest that a Galarian version of Kingler will be appearing). However, Masuda did confirm that cut Pokemon wouldn't be gone forever and would return in future installments, plugging the upcoming Pokemon Home as well.

"You can look forward to seeing Pokemon that don’t appear in these games appearing in different regions in future games. I think Pokemon Home, for a lot of players, will serve as a launching pad to gather them all there and then embark on future adventures."

sword and shield nintendo

Masuda had previously confirmed this earlier in the year, but reiterating the information may help assuage some fans' worries that their favorites might be cut forever. For those who may not know, Pokemon Home is a new cloud-based service that will launch next year and allow players to store all of their Pokemon from the previous games in one place so that they can carry them over to future titles.

In addition, it has been officially confirmed that the new games will have an auto-save feature - a first for the series. However, it will be optional and can be turned off should the player desire.

Pokemon Sword and Shield will release exclusively for Nintendo Switch on November 15th.

MORE: 10 Features We Miss From Old Pokémon Games (That We Need In Sword & Shield)

Source: Game Informer