It's no secret that there are some Pokemon fans who are unhappy about the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield. Game Freak has made a number of unpopular decisions about the games, resulting in some rather severe fan backlash. Now some Pokemon Sword and Shield fans are even calling for a boycott on the games as a way to protest some of the controversial design designs.
One doesn't have to look far online to find a forum post or tweet of someone calling for a Pokemon Sword and Shield boycott. On Reddit, user wadagod is one such person calling for fans to boycott the new games, with his post having 428 upvotes at the time of this writing and over 200 comments. The comments consist of many people agreeing with wadagod's decision to boycott Pokemon Sword and Shield, with some saying that they already canceled their pre-orders for the games long ago.
On the other side of the coin, there are some fans who have dismissed the idea of boycotting Pokemon Sword and Shield as immature and reactionary. These individuals argue that the new gameplay improvements outweigh the lack of a National Pokedex (the main gripe from disgruntled fans), and that they will still be buying Pokemon Sword and Shield when the games launch on Friday, November 15.
For those who haven't been following the drama too closely, Game Freak has decided not to include a National Pokedex in Pokemon Sword and Shield. What this means is that it's impossible to "catch 'em all" in the new games, as some Pokemon from previous entries simply can't be transferred over. There are about 400 Pokemon in Sword and Shield for players to collect, but some fans are upset that they can't get literally every Pokemon in the new games.
Game Freak has made some other unpopular decisions about Pokemon Sword and Shield since then, such as making Exp Share mandatory, which some players feel makes the games too easy. However, Game Freak has doubled down on these decisions, and it has confirmed that future Pokemon games will likely lack a National Pokedex as well, meaning these changes are the new norm for the franchise.
There are some Pokemon fans who feel passionate enough about these changes that they may genuinely boycott Pokemon Sword and Shield. However, it remains to be seen if any kind of "boycott" will be significant enough to have any kind of real impact on the games' sales. We'll find out when Pokemon Sword and Shield launch later this week.
Pokemon Sword and Shield will launch on Friday, November 15, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.