The Pokémon Company has ceased turning something of a blind eye to the rampant cheating often documented in its games and will be dishing out hefty punishments to any players it considers to be distributing or directly creating “illegally modified data.”
In a statement released over the weekend, the Gotta Catch ‘Em All craze’s overseer directly acknowledged the issue while also warning that anyone found to be breaking the terms of service, specifically in relation to Switch exclusives Sword and Shield as well as cloud-based storage app Pokémon Home, could face unconditional suspension of their accounts connected to the latter, even if a premium subscription has already been paid for.
In addition, we will take the following measures for users who are deemed inappropriate in terms of operation, such as causing problems with the operation of software and applications or causing inconveniences to other users.
For now, the new initiative is only specifically applied to the aforementioned titles, though one can assume it’ll apply to all future releases, including this year’s rumored Diamond & Pearl remakes. As for why The Pokémon Company waited so long to take a keen interest in preventing widespread cheating, a number of factors could be at play.
As a major stakeholder and owner of the Switch platform, Nintendo may be putting pressure on management to roll out anti-cheating software to safeguard the integrity of its online service. Likewise, Pokémon Home, billed as a multi-generational residence for Trainers to reliably store their collections, could ultimately become more of a hindrance than a help if left unchecked. Will this be enough to deter unsavory players from continuing what The Pokémon Company considers illegal activity? Perhaps not, but it’ll certainly make potential customers think twice about paying for manually altered or hacked ‘Mons, in turn leading to a downturn in proliferation.
The right move, or too little, too late? Let us know what you make of these developments in the usual place below!