Almost simultaneously, Palworld and Pokémon announced a cozy farming game. Pokémon Pokopia has now revealed when it will be released for Nintendo Switch 2 – but many fans are bothered by one detail, which is why they probably won’t buy it.
When is Pokémon Pokopia being released? The life simulation game from Pokémon will be released on March 5, 2025, for Nintendo Switch 2. A version for the Nintendo Switch is not mentioned, so it is presumably out.
Therefore, it is likely to be released as a competitor to Palworld: Palfarm, because there isn’t even a release date set here – and even if there were, it will probably be released in Early Access on Steam, not as a full version.
The two games are being compared so much because their announcements were only a few days apart. This has amused many fans, because: There is a serious legal dispute between the two parties.
However, with the announcement, Nintendo released another video in which Pokémon Pokopia also appears. Fans would probably have preferred that the game not be shown in this special clip – and now they want to boycott Pokopia.
Fans boycott Pokopia over a detail
What is the problem? The video from Nintendo explains how to use game key cards on the Switch 2. And lo and behold, suddenly Pokémon Pokopia appears. It is explained that the game key card can be recognized by a key symbol at the bottom of the game packaging – just like Pokopia.
Also, on the card itself, it can be seen that the game is “only” a game key card. Game key cards are criticized mainly because they are a physical cartridge, yet do not contain the actual game.
Rather, players insert the cartridge into the Switch 2 and still have to download the game from the eShop. The card is thus only a physical license for a digital download. This brings several disadvantages, such as server dependency and the actual lack of ownership of the game. Ubisoft predicted this a year ago.
This makes Pokopia the first game that has been published by Nintendo and appears as a game key card. So far, there is only the promise that no game in which Nintendo is also involved in development will be released as a game key card.
What are fans doing now? On social media, many players are looking forward to Pokopia. However, there is also a large faction that wants to boycott the game due to the game key card. On Reddit, a user writes that the game key card is not worth the 70 US dollars (in Germany: 70 €) and that he would skip the game.
On Threads, a fan even writes that small children are copying him and that they shouldn’t buy the game. Many comments can be found here that go in a similar direction.
Pokopia strikes a chord with fans of Animal Crossing. It looks like a farming sim where resources must be gathered and a settlement built. What other details the announcement revealed can be found here: Nintendo brings a new Pokémon game: It’s like Palworld, just without guns
