Pokémon TCG Pocket admits restrictive trading system stops players “enjoying the feature as intended”

Within days of launching a controversial new update that added the ability to trade cards, Pokémon TCG Pocket has acknowledged the community’s backlash, saying it was “actively investigating” ways to improve.

A statement posted to social media stopped short of apologising to unhappy players, but admitted some of the new feature’s restrictions were actively “preventing players from being able to casually enjoy” the card game.

“Since releasing the first iteration of the trading feature a few days ago, we have received a large number of comments. Thank you all for sharing your feedback,” the statement from Creatures Inc began.

“The item requirements and restrictions implemented for the trading feature were designed to prevent abuse from bots and other prohibited actions using multiple accounts.”

As trading requires players use up valuable resources and adhere to a lengthy list of restrictions in order to acquire cards they don’t already have, some players felt as though trading was actively discouraged, especially as its limited to players on your friends list, and only one trade can be conducted at a time. Currently, only cards of One, Two, Three or Four Diamond rarity can be offered for trade, alongside One Star rarity.

Now, however, the team says that the goal had only been to “balance” the game whilst “maintaining a fair environment for all players”, adding “preserving the fun of collecting cards[…] is core to the Pokémon TCG Pocket experience”.

“However, thanks to your feedback, we understand that some of the restrictions put in place are preventing players from being able to casually enjoy the feature as intended,” the team concluded.

“We are actively investigating ways to improve the feature to address these concerns. Going forward, we also plan to offer multiple ways to obtain trade tokens including through event distributions.

“As always, thank you for being part of the Pokémon TCG Pocket community.”

If you’re trying to navigate the new update, Eurogamer can help out with a guide to Pokémon TCG Pocket trading and how to trade cards, as well as a deeper dive into Pokémon TCG Pocket Trade Tokens and how to get them.