Should Nintendo have delayed Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s release? Some fans are in agreement

Fans jilted by Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s performance issue-laden launch have suggested that developers Game Freak and Nintendo should have postponed the games’ release.

Reddit user HowlingThunder_Wolf shared their thoughts on Scarlet and Violet’s November launch on the Pokémon subreddit earlier today. They explained that after seeing players discuss how “soulless and buggy” the two titles turned out and their general lack of content as compared to other recent Pokémon titles, they believe Game Freak should have delayed the game by a few months to add more polish.

“I’m sure the game could have been much better and fans would probably understand if they did,” they said.

Most of the comments on the post agree with HowlingThunder_Wolf’s concerns and conclusion. Several point out that Game Freak and Nintendo likely wanted the game to come out in time for the holiday season, a major sales period for most games and consoles. Pokémon Sword and Shield, Scarlet and Violet’s main-series predecessors, also launched just before the holidays in 2019.

Another player noted that Pokémon games appear to be releasing on an accelerated timeline. In the last year alone, Nintendo released Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and Scarlet and Violet. While Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl’s development was outsourced to a different studio, that’s still a startling number of Pokémon games in a relatively short period of time.

Without developer commentary or confirmation, it’s impossible to say whether Scarlet and Violet were truly “rushed” to release within a certain window or whether scope, team size, or other concerns forced Game Freak to scale back its ambitions. It’s also possible that the game was always intended to release with the amount of content it has now, performance issues notwithstanding.