As a child of the ’90s, there were plenty of sensational “wars” that were fought on schoolyard playgrounds. While “Sega vs. Nintendo” was a popular one, as was “Nickelodeon vs. Cartoon Network,” Pokémon vs. Digimon was the battle I got the most invested in. I loved both series, and while I was on the side of Digimon being better, we all know who won that battle. Pokémon is now the largest media franchise in the world, with a plethora of games, anime series, films, merchandise, and a lucrative trading card game. But in recent years, I’ve become almost completely disconnected from the franchise as the Pokémon Company does everything they can to maintain relevancy.
At first, I thought it was just me getting old. I’m in my late 20s and despite me playing Pokémon since the very beginning, I thought I may be naturally growing out of the series. After watching the most recent Pokémon Presents, though, which showcased a lot of what to expect from the franchise in the immediate future, that’s when it finally clicked for me what the problem was. It’s not that I lost interest in the series. It’s because the brand is throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the wall to maintain relevancy and, in turn, delivering weaker, more predatory products.
It’s important to summarize the major announcements from the most recent Pokémon Presents. All together, the Pokémon Company showcased the Pokémon World Championship finals, gave us more information on the upcoming Detective Pikachu Returns, provided updates for Pokémon Go, Pokémon Unite, Pokémon Masters EX, Pokémon Sleep, and Pokémon Cafe ReMix, announced two new Pokémon anime alongside Pokémon: Horizons, revealed Pokémon Stadium 2 and Pokémon Trading Card Game for Nintendo Switch Online, and detailed the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC.
On the surface, it’s a lot of products to showcase, and it’s more Pokémon than I think most people are able to fully digest. They all try to offer different experiences, but at the end of the day, the majority of games that the Pokémon Company showed off were free-to-start with very predatory microtransactions. These games feel less like they want to provide an entertaining experience and more like they exist to create an ecosystem that sucks cash out of players. It’s a noticeable shift from where Pokémon was even a few years ago when Pokémon Go, for all its monumental success, was the only Pokémon mobile game in town. Now, there are multiple games waiting to get new players invested in them.
But honestly, Pokémon doesn’t really seem interested in trying to get new players. It’s trying to retain gamers more than anything by promising them experiences designed to drain wallets. I understand Pokémon is a business, and the folks at the Pokémon Company are ultimately out to make a profit, but like most other mobile game developers, they’re hunting for whales and not really trying to get newcomers interested. Will they really be able to create a new player by including the sushi Pokémon Tatsugiri in Pokémon Cafe ReMix?
While I see the Pokémon Company desperate to milk new gamers through their free-to-start games, its the appeal to older gamers that I find the most underwhelming. It seems like whenever the Pokémon Company wants to bring older fans of the franchise back into the fold, they bring out classic Pokémon and call it a day. This first became apparent in Gen VI, when the Gen I starters, Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle, were included and received special forms. Now, the Pokémon Company is content with just bringing in legendary Pokémon and nothing more. Case in point: Mew and Mewtwo.
One of the announcements from Pokémon Presents revealed how players can earn their own Mew and Mewtwo in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, a game I feel obligated to remind people was pushed out the door in an embarrassing state and earned the lowest scores of any mainline Pokémon game. Those problems seem to have been forgotten, and the Pokémon Company is trying to paint over that by showing off new legendaries in the game and new forms of other legendaries, as if that’s all the classic fans really care about. I mean, the whole Dexit fiasco in Pokémon Sword and Shield really seemed to indicate fans only want to collect all the Pokémon, performance and quality of the games be damned.
Even the release of the two retro Pokémon games really made me raise an eyebrow because of the titles chosen. While I never had a lot of experience with the Pokémon Trading Card Game on Gameboy Color, I loved playing Pokémon Stadium 2. I loved playing the Gen II versions of Pokémon, transferring them over to Pokémon Stadium 2, and competing in all sorts of challenges on the big screen. I like seeing these games brought back from a preservationist perspective, but it feels like a hollow gesture. You can’t transfer Pokémon from the Game Boy games to this version, negating one of the core appeals of the game. As for Pokémon Trading Card Game, I can’t imagine players who are used to the current meta with the actual trading card game will gravitate over to what has probably become antiquated and outdated.
Of course, there’s still Scarlet and Violet, but in the many months since those games released, the performance issues that were shocking to longtime fans of the series have still not been resolved. Nintendo and Game Freak have basically decided that due to their monumental success, there’s no point in patching them. They already made bank, so why bother fixing what’s broken? They’ve made their money, and they’re just focusing on squeezing more out of the people who bought the game with more DLC. The only showcased game that had some creativity to it was Detective Pikachu Returns, but that game probably only exists because Nintendo wanted to try and capitalize on the success of the 2019 movie.
If this is all coming across as cynical, it’s because I’m disappointed to see what Pokémon has become in these past few years. Pokémon is still popular, undeniably so, but there have been a lot of stories about the franchise in the past couple of months that should raise some concerns. I’ve talked before about the lackluster release state of Scarlet and Violet, but Pokémon Go has also been struggling significantly in recent months, the new anime series didn’t exactly take off as quickly as one would have hoped, and of course, there have been numerous discussions about the franchise’s predatory microtransactions. Pokémon may appear to be doing alright and going stronger than ever, but what they’re doing is unsustainable.
I’m reminded of the Guitar Hero franchise while it was at its peak popularity in 2009. The series had tons of games come out all at once to the point where no consumer could keep up. The popularity of the series crashed and profits declined. I feel Pokémon is starting to tiptoe into that area where it’s becoming a blatant cash grab. Yes, there have always been multiple spin-offs and side projects since the franchise’s inception, but they haven’t been as rampant as they are now. Franchise fatigue is a thing, and I think the Pokémon Company are trying to maximize profits before the bubble bursts.
I may be totally wrong about all of this, but I find it hard to believe I’m the only one who feels this way. I’m sure there are other fans of the franchise who have fallen off because they felt exhausted by what the Pokémon Company is putting out. Pokémon has had negative publicity recently, and Nintendo and the Pokémon Company have opted to stick their heads in the sand about criticisms. Instead, they’re just trying to pump out as much content as possible. The bubble is going to burst, and the recent Pokémon Presents was proof that it’s going to happen sooner rather than later.
