Pokemon Home Is a Complete Rip-Off
Pokemon Home's pricing details are out, and the cloud service is a complete rip-off. Nintendo should be ashamed to exploit fans this boldly.
Nintendo's cash-grabs are getting bolder and bolder. | Source: enchanted_fairy/Shutterstock.com
- Pokemon Home will cost $16 per year for a premium subscription.
- That’s almost as much as Nintendo Switch Online.
- Customers need that subscription to transfer creatures from Pokemon Bank.
Pokemon Home details are finally available, and the only surprise is how blatantly Nintendo intends to rip off gamers.
Pokemon Home Locks Vital Features Behind a Paywall
Sure, there’s technically a free version, but it lacks even the most basic of features.
The number of pocket monsters that the free version of Pokemon Home can store is only 30. That’s a ridiculously-low capacity given the hundreds of Pokemon that are available.
And it only gets worse from there:
Pokemon Bank users will be unable to transfer their virtual pets over to Pokemon Home using the free service.
Want to host a trading room? Too bad.
There always the option of picking up the Pokemon Home Premium Plan, but that’s just throwing money at Nintendo. The game company is charging customers $15.99 for a year-long subscription to the service.
Home Costs Almost as Much as Nintendo Switch Online
Let’s put that in perspective.
Customers who pay for Nintendo Switch Online shell out $19.99 for a yearly subscription. This service is well worth the cost because it offers players a collection of classic Nintendo games, online play, and special deals.
Pokemon Home will let players store 6,000 Pokemon and move them from Pokemon Bank, along with some other simple offerings. Yet it’s going to cost almost as much as Switch Online.
What’s worse is that players have to pay for both.
After all, a Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required for online play in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Add in the $4.99 per year fee to access Pokemon Bank, and the price of admission is quickly getting out of hand.
$40 Per Year to Play Pokemon Is Absurd
This means that players must shell out more than $40 per year just to take full advantage of Nintendo’s Pokemon games.
There’s no getting around it; this is consumer exploitation, plain and simple. And Switch owners know it.
Twitter is full of Pokemon fans complaining – and rightly so – about the pricing and features that Pokemon Home has to offer.
It’s clear that Nintendo’s goal is to bleed Pokemon fans dry.
That wouldn’t be as big a deal if the quality of the games justified the premium pricing. But that just isn’t the case.
The worst part is that there are Pokemon fans actually defending this exploitative cash-grab and attacking the critics.
If you want to be taken advantage of, that’s your choice. But don’t complain about other gamers not wanting to be screwed over with you.