The latest update forPokemon Sword & Shieldfrom Nintendo renders hacked raids a thing of the past, barring them from the game’s Y-Comm system. After applying the patch,Sword & Shieldwill additionally check for hacked data in publicly posted raids, and may even be used to track hackers and issue bans.
Max Raid Battles are a new addition to the Pokemon franchise that arrived withSword & Shield,allowing trainers to band together to confront and capture powerfulGigantamaxed Pokemon,which are another a fresh addition to the franchise. Hackers found a way to capitalize on the unique co-op battle system however, enabling them to encounter and obtain Pokemon that are not normally available through Max Raids or any other means. By plugging exploitative code into the game, players could farm legendary Pokemon, shiny Pokemon variants, and even shiny legendaries.
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The primary problem with ill-gotten monsters is that they call the authenticity of impressive, legitimate collections into question, and can also potentially affect competitive balance, though players may quibble about Nintendo’s priorities in fixes. WhileSword & Shieldand the recently releasedIsle of Armorexpansion have been generally well-received by franchise fans,glitches and quality-of-life issues still abound. And those who took advantage of the exploit may argue that tweaking the game to their advantage is part of the fun.
Bugs have a storied, if infamous, legacy in the Pokemon franchise,beginning with MissingNo-related glitches inPokemon Red & Blue. Those early exploits stemmed from limited memory due to programmers pushing the cartridge format to its absolute max. Using them also carried steep risks—one wrong step could corrupt players' save data. But in an online world where memory constraints are almost never an issue, such bugs can be easily squashed with patches, requiring hackers to employ more labor-intensive methods of obtaining rare Pokemon against the developers' desires.
Nintendo is extremely serious about cracking down on illegally obtained Pokemon however, going so far as toban players who receive hacked monsters via online trades. The concern of “counterfeit” Pokemon is especially high in light of the launch ofPokemon Home, Nintendo’s service for storing and trading Pokemon online.
A developer insisting that players adhere to their stated rules may not seem like a contentious stance, but aftera number of Pokemon on the National Pokedex were excluded fromSword & Shield, many players took matters in their own hands to obtain series-favorites like Squirtle and Bulbasaur. Gating access to special Pokemon is another hallmark of the franchise, dating back to Mew withRed & Blue. One could even argue the entirePokemonfranchise is built on a foundation of scarcity, as each generation comes in pairs (or trios) of near-identical games, exclusively distinguished by their exclusive monsters.
Pokemon Sword and Shieldand theIsle of Armorexpansion are out now for the Nintendo Switch.
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