Pokemon fans baffled by Diamond & Pearl sound library shutdown after only three months
The Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Sound Library is being shut down, and fans are livid that they’ve lost another way to listen to the game’s soundtracks.
An important piece of each video game is its soundtrack, and that’s especially true for Pokemon games. A battle theme or route track can send a player back to when they first played through a generation.
However, The Pokemon Company and Nintendo have made it increasingly hard to listen to high-quality versions of their games’ soundtracks outside of playing the game. They aren’t officially available on YouTube or music streaming services unless you want to purchase each soundtrack for $9.99 on iTunes.
And those who attempt to upload Pokemon soundtracks to YouTube are often met with copyright claims. The Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Sound Library was an official way for fans to listen to the games’ soundtrack, but now that’s gone too.
The Pokemon CompanyPokemon fans livid after sound library takedown
On May 24, those visiting the Pokemon Diamond & Pearl sound library website were met with a notice stating the website would be shut down on May 31, 2022. This news came just three months after the service went live.
The sound library was an official Pokemon website that allowed fans to download high-quality versions of the Diamond & Pearl soundtrack for free.
But, upon hearing the news of its impending shutdown, Pokemon fans once again requested the soundtracks be made available on streaming services. A post on Twitter made by YouTuber LewTwo shared the news, and it was met with a flurry of disappointed comments.
A number of users were baffled by GAME FREAK’s decision to terminate the service. One user replied, “I’ve never understood why Nintendo doesn’t just put the game soundtracks on streaming services like Spotify.”
The official Japanese Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Sound Library is getting discontinued in a week, after being up for a total of three months 🙃🙃🙃
let's talk about pokemon music for a moment. https://t.co/Z3EVjKJLxo
— Lewtwo (@Lewchube) May 26, 2022
I have no idea of why Nintendo/GameFreak/Creatures/TPCi (Not sure which one’s in control of copyright claims and stuff like that) make it so difficult for people to find the Pokémon OSTs that weren’t uploaded by Pokeli
— SkullKidman (@TheSkullKidman) May 26, 2022
No, it really sucks that Nintendo takes down ost videos but won’t release the music themselves. Not to mention they could make a huge profit off download, cd, and vinyl releases. They’re great soundtracks and people wanna listen to them.
— Oh Deer 🌸⁎⁺˳✧༚ (@Shmoopzilla) May 26, 2022
Despite this outcry, it doesn’t seem as if GAME FREAK has any intention of releasing Pokemon game soundtracks on streaming platforms anytime soon.
While Pokemon fans may not like the current accessibility of game soundtracks, they are in love with the new Naruto Rowlet costume released in Pokemon Unite.