Game Freak says no direct Pokemon GO connectivity for Pokemon Sword and Shield, talks Pokedex backlash, and the future of the Let's GO franchise

Pokemon Sword and Shield are less than a month away, which means the dev team is doing the rounds promoting the title's upcoming launch. Eurogamer had the chance to talk to producer Junichi Masuda and director Shigeru Ohmori about the games, and we've grabbed some of the more interesting tidbits to share below.

On Pokemon GO connectivity

In Pokémon Sword and Shield there's no direct communication with Pokémon Go, but you'll have seen the announcement for Pokémon Home, where there are plans to be able to send Pokémon from Pokémon Go, and take them around with you, so that's something we do have.

On the negative reaction to the Pokedex

Of course, you know, you see these sort of negative comments and it does, as a developer, make you feel a bit down about certain things. But at the same time, you have to take criticism. For example with Pokémon Let's Go, early on there were a lot of comments that it was too easy, or it was kind of a bit too "kid-focused" and that sort of thing. That sort of comment is something you see, and you take on board, and really try and base improvements in the next game on the feedback you received from the last one.

So, with regards to the Pokédex issue in particular that you've mentioned, that was something that was a really hard decision internally, there were a lot of discussions about which direction we should take that in, and ultimately we felt that, for the overall game, focusing on creating the richest experience we could within that game, leaving the Pokédex as we did was the best solution overall.

On more Let's GO titles

So, at the moment there's no particular plans, but if the fans really like it then definitely keep those voices coming out to the Pokémon Company and Nintendo, and make sure we hear them! [Laughs] We wanna hear those comments!