Why People Adore “Terrible” Pokémon: The Beauty of Having Space for Underdogs Alongside Legendary Gods

The Pokémon video game franchise has officially surpassed 515 million units sold worldwide as of March 31, 2026, cementing its position as the second best-selling video game franchise globally—a staggering achievement made all the more remarkable by the fact that recent flagship entries have been widely criticized as technically broken. Despite severe performance issues, pop-in problems, and incomplete features plaguing titles like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, fans continue to purchase and defend these games in record numbers, revealing a fundamental disconnect between critical reception and commercial success that reshapes how the industry views quality versus brand loyalty.

The Technical Reckoning: When Blockbusters Ship Broken

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, released in November 2022 for the Nintendo Switch by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, stand as the worst-reviewed mainline Pokémon games of all time due to severe performance issues, draw distance problems, and pervasive pop-in that degrades the visual experience. Yet these same games sold over 28.28 million units by March 2026, demonstrating that technical failure no longer prevents massive commercial success when brand equity reaches sufficient scale. The pattern continued with Pokémon Champions, which launched recently on the Nintendo Switch to mixed reception, immediately facing criticism for low frame rates, numerous bugs, and a broken transfer system that left players’ Pokémon stuck in limbo.

Game Freak’s technical director has publicly acknowledged the continued fan scrutiny regarding the series’ visuals and graphics, specifically citing backlash against both Scarlet and Violet and Pokémon Champions. This official acknowledgment reveals an internal awareness of quality issues that developers have not yet fully resolved. The gap between ambition and execution has become the franchise’s defining technical characteristic, yet it has failed to meaningfully impact sales trajectories or player engagement.

A Financial Juggernaut Immune to Criticism

The Pokémon franchise operates at a scale that renders traditional quality metrics nearly irrelevant to its commercial viability. As of 2024, Pokémon is the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, with an estimated lifetime revenue exceeding $150 billion, and generated $12 billion in 2024 alone—a $1.2 billion increase from the previous year. This revenue streams from video games ($30 billion-plus), licensed merchandise ($100 billion-plus), and the trading card game, which has sold over 75 billion cards. The franchise’s financial dominance means it can absorb critical backlash that would devastate smaller competitors.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A exemplifies this immunity to quality concerns. Released in 2025 for the Nintendo Switch 2 and developed by Game Freak, the title sold 12.79 million units by March 2026 despite criticism for dated open-world visuals and compromised performance. This commercial success, alongside Scarlet and Violet’s 28.28 million units and Sword and Shield’s sustained popularity, proves that sales are now completely decoupled from critical reception within the Pokémon ecosystem. The franchise’s brand equity has become so massive that technical flaws function as minor inconveniences rather than deal-breakers.

Fan Defense and the Shifting Standards of Acceptance

The gaming community’s response to recent Pokémon releases reveals a fundamental shift in how players evaluate quality and value. Pokémon Sword and Shield, released in November 2019 for the Nintendo Switch, was initially labeled by many fans as the worst mainline Pokémon game to date due to limited character depth and missing features. Rather than accepting this consensus, developers and passionate fans defended the game against what they characterized as “clueless” criticism, establishing a pattern of brand loyalty superseding technical assessment. This dynamic has intensified with each subsequent release, normalizing the idea that Pokémon games warrant purchase and play regardless of their technical or design shortcomings.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl provide perhaps the starkest example of this phenomenon. Developed by ILCA and published by Nintendo in 2021 for the Nintendo Switch, these remakes are considered the most hated Pokémon game upon release, with fans extensively complaining about dated graphics and lack of content compared to the original 2006 versions. Yet Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl sold over 15.06 million units, reinforcing that critical disdain no longer correlates with commercial failure. The franchise has created a unique market dynamic where “terrible” games occupy the same beloved space as celebrated entries.

The Historical Pattern of Quality Decline and Sustained Success

Pokémon’s trajectory over the past five years illustrates a franchise increasingly willing to prioritize rapid release cycles and brand extension over technical refinement. The progression from Sword and Shield’s initial controversy through Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl’s widespread rejection to Scarlet and Violet’s technical catastrophe demonstrates an accelerating trend toward shipping incomplete products. Game Freak’s public acknowledgment of visual and performance limitations suggests the developer recognizes these issues as structural rather than temporary, yet commercial returns provide no incentive for fundamental change.

The 515 million units sold across the franchise’s history includes foundational successes like Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue at 31 million units, but recent entries now comprise an increasingly large percentage of total franchise sales. This shift means that the “broken game” model has become the franchise’s primary revenue driver rather than an anomaly, normalizing technical compromise as acceptable within the Pokémon universe.

What Comes Next for the Franchise

The Pokémon Company faces a critical juncture as Nintendo Switch 2 hardware becomes the primary platform for new releases. Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s strong sales suggest that players will continue purchasing new entries regardless of technical quality, but sustained critical backlash and transfer system failures indicate that consumer tolerance has limits. Game Freak’s upcoming projects will reveal whether the developer invests in addressing acknowledged visual and performance issues or continues prioritizing release velocity over refinement.

The Pokémon franchise has demonstrated that blockbuster status and critical acclaim no longer need to align, fundamentally challenging industry assumptions about quality as a prerequisite for success. As players continue defending and purchasing “terrible” Pokémon games alongside legendary entries, the franchise redefines what commercial viability means in an ecosystem where brand equity transcends technical execution.