Pokemon Sword and Shield will get their own DLC in the way of Crown Tundra (June 2020) and Isle of Armor (Fall 2020) and while the news is encouraging for many who felt the original games were a bit shallow in features, the news is polarizing, to say the very least.
Here Are Some Initial Thoughts to the News:
It Makes Sense in Today’s Marketplace: The announcement that Pokemon Sword & Shield will now have DLC add-ons is essentially Nintendo following along with business trends in the industry over the years. Companies like Activision and Electronic Arts make millions in DLC and expansion, so it was only a matter of time until Nintendo followed suit. While it makes sense, the fact that Nintendo would be willing to follow the leader, rather than innovate, especially with one of its most popular franchises, is shocking.
It Alienates the Most Dedicated Fanbase: Contrary to the Twitter comments that claim only “boomers” would be the ones pissed off at the thought of DLC for the game, the fact that the game has never had official DLC changes it forever.
It Forces Gamers to Buy If They Want the Type of Experience That Was the Norm Before: In prior Pokemon games, you were guaranteed at least 40 hours of story and even more in terms of post-game objectives. This time around, Sword and Shield delivered about half that and at $59.99, it had the worst bang for your buck of any mainstream Pokemon RPG to date. Forcing gamers to spend $29.99 for 200 more Pokemon and more story doesn’t seem like too bad a deal, but is this just the beginning of similar cash-grab efforts?
How Does This Affect Those Who Don’t Buy?: The DLC are great for the expansion of the series obviously, but what if you don’t update? Will you still be able to transfer the Pokemon not in Sword and Shield, say Bulbasaur and Squirtle, from Pokemon Home? If not, that could infuriate a fanbase that most likely didn’t expect the day Nintendo would go all Electronic Arts on them.
Patrick Hickey, Jr., is the founder and editor-in-chief of ReviewFix.com and a lecturer of English and journalism at Kingsborough Community College, in Brooklyn, New York. Over the past decade, his video game coverage has been featured in national ad campaigns by top publishers the likes of Nintendo, Deep Silver, Disney and EA Sports. His book series, "The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult and Classic Game Developers," from McFarland and Company, has earned praise from Forbes, Huffington Post, The New York Daily News and MSG Networks. He is also a former editor at NBC and National Video Games Writer at the late-Examiner.com
