The mobile game Pokemon Masters recently rebranded to Pokemon Masters EX and a new hashtag for the game started trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons thanks to a lack of capitalization.
Users across the social media platform were stunned on September 1 when #Pokemonmastersex was trending.
To those unfamiliar with the mobile game or its rebrand, thanks to a lack of spaces and capitals, it reads like “Pokemon Master Sex.”
Of course, the real hashtag was for the game and not some weird parody found in the dark corners of the interwebs. Regardless, fans everywhere started freaking out.
https://twitter.com/UndercoverCatto/status/1300802264391708673
Many users used the humorous hashtag to post memes or reference elements in Pokemon more in line with its improper version than the correct one.
me after some #pokemonmastersex pic.twitter.com/jWjnVyLcYd
— Mari (@stogbulb) September 1, 2020
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The first proper use of the PokemonMastersEX hashtag seems to have begun with the Pokemon Masters account itself.
On August 25, the account announced that a new version was available for download and that the application had changed names from Pokemon Masters to Pokemon Masters EX.
Pokemon Masters itself has had a rough start. While the game first launched in August of 2019, it didn’t meet the expectations of the player base, resulting in its producers issuing an apology in an official blog post a couple months later.
📣 App Update Notice!
A new Pokémon Masters update is available to download.
With this update, the title of the app has changed to Pokémon Masters EX.
Details: https://t.co/THIjqoGWoL#PokemonMasters #PokemonMastersEX pic.twitter.com/U3eest4mSV
— Pokémon Masters EX (@PokemonMasters) August 25, 2020
Now, with the game being one year old, the title has changed names, perhaps in an attempt to put its rocky history behind it. What makes this whole debacle quite interesting, however, is that this whole hashtag situation may end up helping the game out.
Considering the fact the tag started trending, it’s likely that more people than ever are aware of the game’s existence once they understand what it actually means. It could be a blessing in disguise for the title and earn it a ton of free publicity.