The Pokémon Company on Growing Angry Fans – We’ve Heard [A Lot]’

The main Pokémon franchise is in an interesting place as it approaches its 25th anniversary. In essence, Pokémon is designed with children as a target audience. But Pokémon is one of those exceptions that is apparently immune to the consequences of aging and growth.

With kids discovering Pokémon for the first time each year and adult fans who have been with the franchise since its inception, The Pokémon Company is fighting an uphill battle to cater for everyone. And Pokémon fans don’t hesitate to let developers know when they’re unhappy.

The Pokémon Company has faced a great deal of criticism during recent Pokémon releases, and now the company is responding to outrage from fans. Talking to AxiosPokémon Company’s director of consumer marketing JC Smith says developers have listened to fan complaints and are forced to balance the wants and needs of fans of all ages.

“We have a group of creators and professionals who work at the Pokémon Company who have been through a lot: seen, heard [a lot]”Said Smith.” They have thicker skin than many people because they have heard it. “

Much of the criticism imposed on new Pokémon game releases is for not having the content that longtime fans have come to expect. If you check the speech on Twitter or Reddit, it won’t take long to see what Smith is referring to.

Certain segments of the Pokémon fanbase constantly complain that games aren’t what they used to be, that Game Freak is. lazyand that the games are cash prizes. As the franchise continues to grow, the issue becomes how many different generations of Pokémon, and in turn, Pokémon fans, there have been.

Smith says that Pokémon developers work to “make sure all generations get some attention” when it comes to choosing which Pokémon are represented on modern gaming platforms. This, of course, is a reference to Sword and Shield, which received unprecedented backlash for the decision not to include some Pokémon inherited from older games.

Sword & Shield of 2018 marked the eighth generation of Pokémon. The humble 151 creatures the franchise started with have been dwarfed by the current roster, which is starting to approach the 1,000 mark. In an era where crisis is at the forefront of developers’ minds, it seems Game Freak thinks it makes logistical sense to trim the list for future entries, as long as every type of Pokémon fan gets at least some love.

Producer Junichi Masuda has said that Sword & Shield developers needed to cut the number for balance reasons and because of the time it takes to create higher fidelity models for the Nintendo Switch. Smith echoed these sentiments by saying that it all comes down to balance.

“But there is also a vision of what the creators want to offer, and it is [a matter of] find that delicate balance at all times, “said Smith. He also said that The Pokémon Company is well aware of fan requests to propel Pokémon in a new direction, which we are seeing with Pokémon Legends: Arceus next January, a bold new vision for the series that breaks many of the well-known Pokémon conventions.

“We listened to it. And I think the creators definitely understand that there is a desire for maybe something,” Smith said. “But we try to focus on making the core accessible to everyone.”

And yet, as the franchise continues to age and reach new audiences, it becomes impossible to please all Pokémon fans. And it seems that many Pokémon fans think that the series is declining over time.

TO cheep who gained some traction over the weekend scoffed at this idea. The image reads, “What your favorite generation of Pokémon REALLY says about you,” and is followed by images from each generation, along with the ages next to them. The point is to say that fans think that Pokémon was in its prime when they were seven years old, and they were probably introduced to the franchise.

🤯 this was quite successful for me. How accurate is this for you? pic.twitter.com/hYxAivxSRa

– StarSeek (@star_seeking) November 3, 2021

Even the upcoming remakes, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, are facing heavy criticism online just a week before their release. After the remakes were leaked, images and videos of the game began to circulate, and it wasn’t long before some complaints started to appear. Fans started calling the games. lazy, ruinedand more even before they come out. Of course, it’s not all negativity, as many fans are. still excited even after viewing the leaked details of the games.

The negativity of the presentation is starting to feel familiar to the Pokémon franchise. The aforementioned Sword & Shield suffered a similar firestorm of reaction and hatred before launch after fans learned that not all Pokémon were entering the new games. This led to outrage from “Dexit” on social media, which only got worse after leaks confirmed many of the creatures that had been hacked.

Like many controversies on the Internet, it is difficult to know which part of the fan base is outraged and which part is the vocal minority. In the case of Sword and Shield, the games sold more than 20 million units and are the best-selling Pokémon since Gold and Silver on the Game Boy Color. And as for next week’s remakes, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are already in the top ten best sellers on Amazon.

It remains to be seen how fan and critical reception for Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will shake up next week, but we were impressed with the remakes in our hands-on preview. It also may not be long until we go through this cycle again, as Pokémon Legends: Arceus is due out in January.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.