The Pokémon Company has announced another ban targeting hackers and cheaters in the mainline Switch games. This current Pokémon Sword and Shield ban wave looks to target those who used hacked Pokémon in online modes. This appears to include those who traded away obviously hacked Pokémon, which is a common tactic for RMT sites to use to promote themselves; and those who used hacked monsters in competitive or cooperative battles. So if you used any hacked monsters in the last few weeks, watch out. As of now, it doesn’t appear that those who accidentally received hacked Pokémon are being banned. And yes, that does happen fairly often in Surprise Trades.
Previous ban waves took action against hackers using hacked Raids to host Shiny spawns and other illegitimate methods. That previous ban wave looked to be temporary, hitting hackers with a two-month ban. This time, it looks like there’s much more permanent banning going on, as hackers are getting knocked offline in droves.
The bans will once again impact those trying to use any online features. You won’t have access to anything online, and no refunds will be issued for any DLC or other payments. That means you won’t be able to compete in online battles or trading. Nintendo is pretty serious about all this, so don’t expect them to go easy. So if you’re hacking or engaging in RMT right now, you might be about to lose access to online features.
Hacking became very prevalent in the online scene for Pokémon Sword and Shield thanks in large part to the ease of hacking early Nintendo Switch consoles. Nintendo has been doing their best to keep a handle on things.
Pokémon Sword and Shield came out for the Nintendo Switch on November 15, 2019, and has had two DLC packs released for it. During the release of the expanded Pokédex entries in Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra, hacking saw a spike in usage. RMT also is still easy to find, as online sellers will often make use of hacked Pokémon HOME saves to sell an entire region’s Pokédex to a user for a fee.
Whatever happens in the coming days, it’s going to be a long and possibly endless road to defeat Switch hackers, Nintendo may be fighting a losing battle here.
