Pokemon COO finally responds to Scarlet & Violet’s polarizing launch

The Pokemon Company COO Takato Utsunomiya has finally commented on the polarizing critical and fan response to Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet hold a strange position in the series’ history. On the one hand, the game’s among the best-selling in the franchise, with numbers rivaling that of Pokemon Sword & Shield, as well as the Gen 1 & 2 games.

Outside of the financial success, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet have been panned by fans and critics alike. This is due to the recurring performance issues and underwhelming visuals, which are unbefitting of the biggest media franchise in the world, not to mention Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s endless glitches.

The Pokemon Company has released statements about wanting to improve Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, but there has finally been an official comment from COO Takato Utsunomiya on the matter.

The Pokemon Company’s COO has responded to fan response to Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Utsunomiya was asked about the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet launch regarding its performance issues and glitches.

“Regardless of whether we publicly respond, we’re always paying very close attention to the feedback and conversations happening in the communities,” Utsunomiya said.

“There are certain aspects where we can’t always be 100% aligned with what parts of the community are asking for and what we want to provide. But we do this with the desire to keep Pokémon going for a very long time, and I believe that the fans and players are aligned with us in that respect.”

While Nintendo Canada apologized for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet at launch, Utunomiya wasn’t quite as forthcoming regarding claiming responsibility for the shoddy release of the Gen 9 games. His comments were vague, centering more on the company monitoring feedback but not necessarily responding to it.

There also wasn’t a concrete promise to improve future games but rather an interest in keeping the franchise going for as long as possible.

Despite all of their issues, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet has been a huge success, so there isn’t as much of an incentive for change as there would be if there had been a boycott or low sales. As such, Utsunomiya’s response might not be what longtime Pokemon fans want to hear about the franchise’s future.