Game companies should support their players, especially when they’re having trouble. And with Nintendo, they have landed in a somewhat unique situation. It appears some Pokémon Sword & Shield players bought the wrong version of the new Isle of Armor DLC. For Nintendo and Game Freak, this is kind of a unique issue. As the Pokémon franchise is one of the most popular gaming franchises, and it’s one of the only ones which sells the same game across multiple versions. And this has led to two versions of the new DLC being released, and some folks evidently messed up.
Nintendo of America has now addressed the issue in a Tweet published over the weekend. “When purchasing the Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass or Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass, please ensure you select the one that corresponds with the version of the game you own. If you mistakenly purchased the incorrect pass, please contact customer support,” said the company.
Going into their pockets to fix the issue is great, although it does really suck that this had to happen at all. The release of Pokémon Sword & Shield has highlighted long-term criticisms of Game Freak by many fans. The split versions, basically forcing many hardcore players to buy the same game twice, is a common gripe. Other issues about cut corners and a lack of innovative gameplay are also common sore spots.
And let’s be real, if there were not two incredibly similar versions of a game floating around, this issue never would have happened. The argument by tradition is no excuse. It’s just strange that we allow Game Freak to skate by on this after more than 20 years of the same thing.
And while some, myself included, remain hopeful that this kind of thing becomes a learning experience for the gaming industry and certain companies, in particular, it seems like the monetary incentive to continue these practices is too appealing. There are things that the new Switch game has done right, but there are plenty of things to be irritated by, and the fact that this DLC mixup happened at all is one of them.
Pokémon Sword & Shield is out now for Nintendo Switch.
