Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, released November 18, 2022, brought Pokémon into true open-world gameplay. Despite technical issues, the games sold 10 million copies in three days—the fastest-selling Nintendo games ever at the time.
Open-World Freedom
For the first time, players explored a fully open region (Paldea, inspired by Spain) with minimal restrictions. Three storylines could be tackled in any order: Gym Challenge, Team Star bases, and Titan Pokémon hunts. The freedom revolutionized the formula.
Technical Disaster
Scarlet/Violet launched with severe performance problems: frame drops, pop-in, glitches. Critics and fans lambasted Game Freak for rushing releases. Despite flaws, players loved the core experience—cooperative multiplayer (four players), Terastallization (new battle gimmick), and charming characters.
The games proved Pokémon’s popularity transcends polish—but also sparked discussions about Game Freak’s development practices and Nintendo’s release schedules.