The Pokemon franchise is heavily enjoyed all around the world. Players just can’t get enough of catching them all. Years after their initial release, the Pokemon games continue to thrive with brand new installments. We’re actually on our way to receiving the next mainline titles, Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet, later on in the month. However, some warnings are being tossed out by The Pokemon Company today. If you’re caught modifying the Pokemon Switch games, there is a good chance you’ll end up getting banned from playing those games online.

An announcement went out today warning players that if they modify their games, then there could be a ban. This is also applying to the Pokemon Home application. These bans will either be limited or indefinite, so you could very well lose out on the online functionality of Pokemon games entirely.

Regardless, this is a warning that might have been well overdue. Lately, there has been a slew of leaks regarding the next installment of the Pokemon franchise. Both Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet managed to get released into the wild prior to their official launch dates.

With spoilers of the game now flooding the internet, things only got worse. Now a ROM of Pokemon Scarlet has been made available online, so players could potentially download the game and start playing right now. They won’t have online access, though, as we’ve been alerted of a day-one patch that unlocks online gameplay. Now it looks like The Pokemon Company is cracking down on those who might go one step further and continue to modify the game to create an unfair advantage.

Those players will be banned, but these bans won’t hit everyone with modified data. It looks like if you receive a Pokemon through a trade that was obtained from a modification of the game, your account will be safe. Likewise, those banned will only find that the Pokemon games will be unavailable to play online. So it doesn’t look like this will hurt any other games or services for the Nintendo Switch.

As mentioned, we’re gearing up for the next major Pokemon installments. While already leaked, the official release date for Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet is set for November 18, 2022. Those two games, of course, are only available as Nintendo Switch exclusives. In the meantime, you can check out the game trailer for the upcoming titles below.

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