Publisher and developer, The Pokemon Company and Game Freak respectively, have seriously done pretty good with their newest Switch release, Pokémon Sword and Shield. A wide array of visual updates, gameplay streamlining and new features have seen hardcore players pretty happy. Some have even sunk in hundreds of hours so far. Sadly though, it looks as though thousands of players may have lost out on major progress in the games new ranked modes.
The competitive multiplayer for Pokémon Sword and Shield includes different tiers of play, with the tiers for skilled players reaching all the way to Master Ball rank. Each of these tiers has their own rulesets, which the developers regularly revise. The latest ruleset though, it seemingly causing a major problem.
According to new reports, thousands of players are reportedly locked out of ranked matches entirely once they reach the highest Master Ball tiers of play. It is theorised that a maintenance update for online features of Pokémon Sword and Shield has caused a portion of players who reached Master Ball Tier to be stopped from entering new battles. “I think part of it was that the ruleset accidentally allowed some Gigantamax Pokémon in and created an unfair advantage but I don’t think banning was intentional,” said reports on the thread.
According to Pokémon fansite Serebii, “a couple thousand” competitors are affected by the bug. THe information surrounding the issue has been sent to the company for clarification and fixes. No word yet on when or if the issue will be fixed. It’s likely that it will be fixed quickly as the developers don’t want to upset their core players.
Pokémon Sword and Shield are both out now for the Nintendo Switch. Go grab either Pokemon Shield or Pokemon Sword now. You can also grab a double pack with both games if you want to experience all of the exclusive content.
