Pokemon SwordandShieldcurrently suffer from an exploit that allows players to get out of losing competitive matches. If a player turns off theirNintendo Switchat just the right moment after they’ve lost, they can negate it. However, doing so also prevents the winning trainer from receiving their win, making it as though the battle never happened.
The Pokemon Company warned playersabout doing this back in mid-April, but it seems more people have started using the trick than less. As a result, The Pokemon Company has decided to follow through with its threat of banning cheaters.
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As of right now, anyone deemed using this “loss prevention” glitch will lose the ability to participate inonlineSwordandShieldcompetitions. According to Pokemon Matome, the first wave of bans happened in Japan. These players have taken to Twitter to post images of the bans online, while other regions that have abused the exploit will likely start receiving bans themselves soon.
The ban also looks to be permanent, so there will be no chance of reversing it once it happened. In its first warning,The Pokemon Companyclaimed that temporary bans were on the table as well, but it doesn’t seem to have used this lighter punishment yet.
It also stated that players could be banned from all onlineSwordandShieldfeatures. How exactly The Pokemon Company will dole out these punishments remains a mystery, however. It probably takes into account how many times a player has used the exploit since its discovery, so those with minimal use will likely receive a temporary ban. More moderate users will be permanently banned, and those that use it all the time will probably lose all online privileges.
To be clear, The Pokemon Company will only enact the ban if it catchesmultiple disconnects on the sameSwordorShieldaccount, so anyone that disconnected because of circumstances outside of their control should be okay. Repeat offenders, however, may end up losing their online accounts:
“If in future investigations we discover that this sort of cheating and annoying behavior is being repeated, such players will be excluded from future ranking battles and will not be able to participate in live battles or internet competitions. We may also decide to temporarily or permanently suspend their use of all onlinePokemon SwordandShieldcontent.”
Most gaming communities don’t mind players using cheats or exploits on their own time, and thePokemongames themselves have infamous ties to things like Game Sharks and Action Replays. It’s when the cheating negatively affects the experience of other players that things start to become a problem and this loss-prevention exploit does just that. So thePokemon SwordandShieldcommunity will probably welcome these bans with open arms.
Pokemon SwordandShieldare available now exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
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