The Pokemon Company announced that certain online features in Pokemon Sword & Shield will no longer receive updates ahead of Gen 9’s launch.
The hype surrounding Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is building with the November 18, 2022 launch date steadily approaching.
Unfortunately, the start of a brand new Generation of Pokemon also means it’s time to leave behind the one that came before.
Now, it seems Game Freak has begun the first steps to sunset Pokemon Sword & Shield, as the company announced various online features will no longer receive updates.
Game Freak ends select Pokemon Sword & Shield updates
As reported by the Pokemon news publication Seribii.net, The Pokemon Company released a notice that some online features surrounding Pokemon Sword & Shield would come to an end beginning in November 2022.
The Wild Area News, which makes certain Pokemon featured in Max Raid Battles more common for a period of time, will receive one final update on November 1, 2022. The update will add “Pokemon not normally available such as Gigantamax Snorlax.”
Additionally, the Battle Stadium, which allows players to battle each other online, won’t receive any further Ranked season updates after November 1, 2022.
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This means the result of Ranked Battles will no longer appear on the Pokemon Home application. There will also be no further official online competitions.
Serebii Update: Details have been released for future online connectivity in Pokémon Sword & Shield from November 1st 2022. Most features will remain but some will no longer be updated.Details @ https://t.co/gDbXkIa6cr pic.twitter.com/SQaK9Xgl0P
— Serebii.net (@SerebiiNet) October 14, 2022
Thankfully, there are still plenty of features that will remain active until further notice, including Battle Stadium Friendly Competitions — though they will not appear on Pokemon Home starting December 1, 2022.
In addition to Friendly Competitions, all Y-Comm online features will remain accessible until further notice.
While this news will no doubt be sad for some Pokemon fans out there who are still invested in Sword & Shield, it makes sense that Game Freak is ready to shift its online focus to the Generation 9 titles.
Of course, Sword & Shield trainers can still battle each other online for the foreseeable future, but those looking forward to battling competitively should get ready for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.