The Pokémon Company has released the Ver. 1.3.1 update for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet on May 25 (JST). The update addresses problems which occurred during the previously held invite-only official tournament.

Scarlet and Violet are the latest titles in the Pokémon series developed by Game Freak. The games are set in an open world, where you can seamlessly explore the cities and wilderness. The games also feature online battles, where trainers can compete against each other.

In the online invitation-only main stage event for the Pokémon Japan Championships 2023 that was held on May 14, certain unforeseen problems were discovered. The problems were reported by Viera and other players who participated in this tournament. They had noticed that they would sometimes get matched with the same opponents consecutively, and there was even a case of three consecutive battles being held with the same opponents. This was problematic as being consecutively matched with the same opponent can put you at a great disadvantage if the opponent isn’t a good match for you, especially since contestants can’t change their team composition mid-event.

Player Viera comments on the tournament

Other problems were pointed out, such as the fact that matches would start consecutively one after the other, making it so that players were forced to play without breaks. In addition, players were not able to check stats such as rating and ranking, unlike in recent official tournaments. They couldn’t check how many more matches they needed to reach the minimum requirement either.

There were also problems arising due to matches disconnecting. Alcana, a player on the Umbra gaming team, reported that he didn’t make the rankings due to not completing the required number of matches even though he had played 10 matches, which is exactly the required number of matches. He claimed it’s highly likely that he was disconnected by his opponents in some of the 10 matches and that those matches ended up not being counted. The possibility that a match being disconnected, whether intentionally or due to a technical problem, could result in a contestant not being able to rank is undoubtedly a major concern for players.

On May 17, the official Pokémon Twitter account made a statement about the problems that had occurred during the tournament and reported that they had sent contestants information via e-mail regarding measures that will be taken. The Ver. 1.3.1 update contains fixes for the problems mentioned.

The event was held to determine who will advance to the finals scheduled to be held on June 10 and 11. The top 64 players of each category will be given the right to participate in the finals and the right to compete in the Pokémon World Championships 2023, which means that this was a significantly important tournament, as it is related not only to the finals in Japan, but also the World Championships.

The fact that the official Pokémon tournament had so many issues generated a lot of criticism from both contestants and fans, but the problems have been resolved with the new update and previously affected contestants are being offered solutions. The Pokémon Company reportedly told contestants via e-mail that they are planning to hold an additional event on May 28 to grant 64 additional players the right to compete in the finals (Oricon News).

Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-05-25 12:23)