Following the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield today, there’s reportedly a major bug wiping files from the SD card that hosts the game.
Gamers from around the world have been binge playing Pokémon Sword and Shield only to discover a bug was allegedly erasing save progress. It was first assumed that the save files were corrupted during a crash in the new game.
Japanese players who had access to Pokémon Sword and Shield were the first to begin posting videos of the issue. A Reddit user who studied the videos claims that it’s not the save files that are bugged, but the SD card.
“It looks more like the SD card corrupted during a crash, and not that the save files are wiped,” a Reddit user said. “Why this is important: Saves are not stored on the SD but on the internal memory. Near the end of the video, the person streaming accesses the save files, all of which are still reading as there. The games themselves are gone from the SD card, but the saves are perfectly fine.”
Saves are stored in the internal memory, not on the SD. In one of the Pokémon Sword and Shield save crash videos, it was discovered that the save files were still accessible, but the games were gone from the SD card.
Related: How to send Mew from Poké Ball Plus to Pokémon Sword and Shield
Players should disable the autosave function until Game Freak and The Pokémon Company figure out the core root of the problem. It’s also wise to back up the save files, just in case.
