We have recieved unconfirmed reports Nintendo of America are allowing cancellations of pre-orders for the digital versions of Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield.
The claim comes from user “sQuBNsc26U9whKWJ” on r/Pokemon. In a thread they created, they claim Nintendo of America are allowing pre-orders of the digital versions of Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield to be cancelled and fully refunded.
“Just an FYI it is possible. I used their live support chat, explained why I was upset with the misleading promotion for the game (cut so many Pokemon). The agent said she would forward it onto management where they would decide. And then I got this email today: Screenshot
So they are aware of our annoyances and will refund preorders.
Edit: This was Nintendo of America”
The alleged email stated the following:
“Hello,
In regard to the recent issue you reported to Nintendo, I’m emailing to let you know that we’ve processed a refund for your digital purchase by adding USD59.99 to your account. You should see the funds available the next time you log in with your Nintendo eShop account.
We consider this matter resolved and have closed the incident.”
It should be noted that under EU law, even a digital pre-order may be cancelled up to 14 days from the date of purchase. There have also been other allegations that Nintendo’s internal policy allows refunds prior to 48 hours, if the game is heavily glitchy and broken, or even if the user suffered motion-sickness from it [1, 2].
As the user stated, Nintendo allowing pre-orders may come from recent leaks of Pokemon Sword and Shield. The game seemingly broke it’s street date in some locations, allowing more information to spread online and datamining. This resulted in the number of Pokemon in the game being revealed.
Many care about the game’s total number of Pokemon due to confirmation that not all Pokemon would be in the game, preventing them from being transferred. While producer Junichi Masuda and director Shigeru Ohmori stated this was to dedicate more time to animations and other areas of development, fans were critical of trailer footage showing no marked improvement over the previous 3DS entry in the series, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
Fans were outraged when the news was first announced, pushing both “Dexit” and “BringBackNationalDex” hashtags on social media. New footage of the game’s and leaks only fueled their frustrations that the graphics and animations had little to no marked improvement. Some suspect the outrage reaching fever-pitch from leaked information was why the Japanese launch event was cancelled.
The only other time in recent history Nintendo of America allegedly allowed refunds of digital pre-orders outside of special circumstances was with Overwatch. This was likely due to large pressure, after Blizzard Entertainment caused massive controversy that fans strongly disagreed with.
After professional Hearthstone player Chung “blitzchung” Ng Wai stated pro-Hong Kong protest statements in a post-match interview, Blizzard Entertainment suspend the player and the two casters. Gamers and free speech advocates rallied against the company with protests. Blizzard later made two public apologies, emphasizing “our relationships in China had no influence on our decision.”
Blizzard also canceled their Overwatch Nintendo Switch launch event at the Nintendo NYC Store at the time of the incident.
Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are both launching on November 15th, for Nintendo Switch.
We have reached out to Nintendo for clarification. You can expect our review of Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield soon. What do you think? Sound off in the comments below!
