Pokemon Sword and Shield Tokyo launch event cancelled
Game Freak is no longer hosting a launch event for Pokemon Sword and Shield in Japan.
This Friday, November 15, the Sunshine City Fountain Square in Ikebukuro, Tokyo was supposed to host a big launch event for Pokemon Sword and Shield, but that's no longer going to happen.
The developer announced on the official site that the event has been cancelled due to "operational reasons," without really elaborating further.
"The launch event for Pocket Monster Sword Shield, scheduled to be held at Sunshine City Fountain Square in Ikebukuro, Tokyo on November 15 (Friday), will be cancelled due to operational reasons. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to customers who are planning to visit or considering their visit," the Google-translated statement reads.
This is particularly unusual for a mainline Pokemon game, but it's not hard to guess what could have led Game Freak to make that decision. Tensions have been high since it was revealed that the game will not be launching with a local Pokedex.
The news lead to fan outrage that continues to this day, having recently escalated to online threats.
With negativity reaching a fever pitch, it's likely Game Freak didn't want to have to deal with that at a public launch event.
Pokemon Sword and Shield launches November 15 on Nintendo Switch.