Nintendo Has No Incentive To Innovate With Pokémon

I don’t play any sports games, but I always know when they come out. Inevitably, I’ll see one viral tweet after another pop up to trash the latest Madden or NBA2K whenever a new one is released. There are a lot of reasons why these games are bad. But mainly, these games have no real incentive to rock the boat. They have their licenses that they have a monopoly on, and people keep buying the games. There is no need for introspection from a bunch of people complaining if you keep making boatloads of cash.

We have reached a point where the beloved Pokémon franchise might be on the verge of a similar level of fan backlash. Pokémon Scarlet/Violet promised innovation, being the series first truly open world game, and it ended up being one of the worst rated games in series history for a mainline game. The graphics and performance of the game have become embarrassing, and the general gameplay has not evolved in the way many turn based RPGs have in modern times.

The release of Palworld, a survival crafting game that has Pokémon elements, has started the conversation around Pokémon back up. Palworld and Pokémon are not similar games at all, but many are wondering if Palworld will light a fire under Nintendo and GameFreak, and force them to think more about actually creating a modern and innovative Pokémon game next time around.

I’m here to say, that much like Madden and other popular sports franchises don’t care about any knock off competitor, even if they do more interesting things, there is no way Nintendo will care one bit about Palworld. At this point in time, Pokémon has no incentive to get better. The brand has too much power to bother.

Pokémon Scarlet/Violet Sold Very Well

According to Nintendo, Pokémon Scarlet/Violet has sold over 23 million copies. While a bit short of the sales of Pokémon Sword/Shield, it isn’t inconceivable that it will catch up one day. It is less than one million copies away from being the 3rd most purchased Pokémon game in series history as well, trailing only Sword/Shield, and the original games. It is a certified hit, and the Pokémon name is stronger than ever.

What makes this crazier is the aforementioned mediocre reviews for the game. Pokémon games are usually good for at least a score in the mid 80s from Metacritic. Sword/Shield was a little lower than the norm at around 80. Scarlet/Violet ended up at 71. That isn’t a devastating score, but it’s a clear signal that these games are not as good as they should be. And it just doesn’t matter. With the power of the Switch and the Pokémon brand being as strong as ever, Pokémon games seem to be an unstoppable force when it comes to selling games.

Pokémon Tried To Innovate Already

When Pokémon Legends: Arceus was revealed, there was a level of buzz and hype I hadn’t seen for a Pokémon game in forever. This was Nintendo finally taking Pokémon in a bold new direction and innovating with more action oriented gameplay, with a world that seemed more alive than any previous Pokémon game.

Arceus had problems to be certain and didn’t fully live up to the hype, but it was still pretty well received with a Metacritic score of 83. Despite this, Arceus sold significantly less than Scarlet/Violet, with about 15 million units sold. That is still a great number, but clearly, the traditional formula is what more people are clamoring for. If all the hype around innovation didn’t actually lead to more sales, what is the point of rocking the boat with the main series in any real ways? When it comes to Pokémon, the nostalgia and the familiarity are the appeals as much as anything else. That’s why no Pokémon inspired games (like say, Temtem) even come close to touching its popularity, even if many of them are “better.” There is no need for Nintendo or GameFreak to take serious risks with any mainline games when so many will buy up anything that fits the status quo.

The People Decide

For as many people complain about Madden on the internet, if you talk to people in real life, anyone that plays Madden loves to tell you that they play it if it comes up in conversation. They are proud of being a big time player.

The same can be said for Pokémon. Your average non-online Pokémon player will probably absolutely rave about every game and have no complaints. They keep buying the games, right? I just can’t believe that many people would continuously hate-buy a game like this every iteration.

And as long as they keep buying the games, nothing will change. I can’t blame Nintendo or GameFreak for being content. It’s the smart business move. And the odds that your average Pokémon fan is going to be so won over by Palworld, a game not on a Nintendo platform to boot, that they stop buying Pokémon games is unlikely at best. No matter how successful Palworld is, there is no incentive for Nintendo to change Pokémon. And you can only blame those pesky consumers.