Masaaki Hoshino, director of Pokémon Champions, acknowledged fan criticisms of the game's graphics and performance in an interview with Eurogamer Germany. The veteran Pokémon developer related to the feedback as a fan himself and defended his team's efforts. He compared the battle simulator to his prior work on Pokkén Tournament.
Pokémon Champions, a free-to-play battle simulator, launched on Nintendo Switch earlier this month, with a mobile version planned. Fans have criticized its small roster, numerous bugs, missing Pokémon from trailers, and technical shortcomings, including limited visuals and performance issues. Even on the Nintendo Switch 2, the game maintains a 30 FPS framerate and visuals similar to the original Switch version, according to reports from Eurogamer Germany and other outlets. The Pokémon Company intends to use Champions as its official platform for competitive play, with periodic updates introducing new Pokémon, items, and rulesets planned. The Pokémon Company technical director Masaaki Hoshino, who also worked on Pokémon Yellow, produced Pokkén Tournament and Pokémon Unite, addressed the backlash. > Yes, as a Pokémon fan, I naturally understand the various discussions currently taking place within the fan community. I can totally relate to all of it. Regarding the graphics and gameplay, we’ve truly tried to do our best in both areas. Hoshino noted that all Pokémon now feature their own shadows and improved battle effects. > I have experience from working on Pokkén Tournament, and one of my goals for that game was actually to make the Pokémon game with the best graphics at the time. And I think we did a good job with that back then. But only two Pokémon were ever visible on screen at the same time. With Pokémon Champions, we have more limitations. Hoshino explained the added challenges stem from displaying four Pokémon simultaneously in double battles, unlike Pokkén Tournament's two.
