Pokemon fans reportedly upset at Nintendo over paid DLC expansion content, Twitter posts show mixed reactions

Last year, Nintendo found itself in the middle of a controversy as fans of its hit franchise cried foul over the latest installment. "Pokemon Sword" and "Pokemon Shield" were the first titles designed for the Switch platform, but developer Game Freak made a shocking announcement. It was revealed that some of the existing pokemon will not carry over to the new game. Now, in its latest Pokemon Direct presentation, the publisher revealed that it will be releasing a new expansion pass DLC for each respective version of the game for $30.

Some players who have completed the main story campaign and are already in the end-game grind are supposedly excited to have new content on the way. Others, however, are upset that Nintendo is charging a steep price for something that should have been shipping with the base game in the first place, CNN reports. These individuals are referring to the returning pokemon which were excluded due to production reasons.

Prior to the launch of "Pokemon Sword" and "Pokemon Shield" in 2019, fans of the long-running RPG franchise were displeased to learn that of the developer's decision to adjust the Pokedex. This meant that most pokemon from previous games (which have always been ported to every new title) will not make the cut.

This was allegedly due to production constraints that led the management to make some reductions. Nintendo confirmed that some will be returning with the paid DLC expansion pass and it is apparently not how gamers think it should have been handled by Game Freak.

In an interview with game producer Junichi Masada, he noted that his team was focused on gameplay quality and that it would have taken more resources and time to include everything in the Pokedex. He cited, "Of course, I wanted to be able to bring all Pokemon if I could do it, but it was also a decision that I had to make some day. In the end, I had to choose quality."

Just before the game came out on November 15 last year, data miners were able to secure digital copies ahead of the launch. After some digging around, they found out that the game studio was just reusing 3D models from the 3DS "Pokemon" titles.

This prompted fans to take to social medial and the #GameFreakLied hashtag almost immediately trended as they called on people to boycott the game. Nonetheless, the games went on to sell more than six million copies in less than a week.

As of now, the DLC content is getting a mixed reception from the "Pokemon" community. Nintendo is doing its part to fix some of the oversights with "Pokemon Sword" and "Pokemon Shield," but locking content that should have been included from the start behind a pay-wall is not exactly good for its image among consumers. Players who do not purchase the expansion pass will be unable to catch the returning creatures, but can supposedly trade or transfer them via the "Pokemon HOME" app.