The Pokemon Company has taken the unusual step of releasing an official statement about Nuzlocke runs, in response to reports that it removed creators from its content program for engaging with them, VGC reports.
The initial report came from content creators Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, who previously co-hosted Nintendo’s official YouTube show, Nintendo Minute. In a recent podcast episode, the duo revealed that they had pitched a Nuzlocke run for an episode of Nintendo Minute, but claimed The Pokemon Company had been strongly against it.
You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.
Click To Unmute
ShareSize:640 × 360480 × 270
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.
This video has an invalid file format.
00:00:00Sorry, but you can’t access this content!
Please enter your date of birth to view this video
JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031Year20242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900
By clicking ‘enter’, you agree to GameSpot's
Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy
Now Playing: Pokemon Scarlet & Pokemon Violet Introducing Grafaiai Trailer
Nuzlocke refers to a set of punishing rules some players choose to use for Pokemon runs, including simulating permadeath every time a Pokemon faints, and only allowing players to catch the first Pokemon encountered in any given region.
“We thought that this would be a fun idea for a Nintendo Minute video,” Ellis explained, when asked if they had ever played the game with Nuzlocke rules. “So we pitched it to the Pokemon Company saying ‘Hey, we would like to do a Nuzlocke run, what do you think?'”
“[We] thought they were going to fire us,” Yang added, before Ellis went on to elaborate: “They said, ‘we consider this to be on the same level as using hacked games, ROM hacks’ … But this is just a style of playing the game that everyone can buy, there’s no hacking.”
“There were a lot of creators that played Nuzlocke style of Pokemon that got erased from the creator program,” Yang went on to claim, leading to widespread reports that The Pokemon Company is against Nuzlocke runs, leading the company to issue a statement to the contrary.
“We do not have any issues with fans/creators playing the games with Nuzlocke rules,” The Pokemon Company International said in a statement to Serebii‘s Joe Merrick. Merrick also said there is no evidence beyond Yang’s statement that creators have ever been dismissed for playing Nuzlocke rules.