No Great Tusk or Iron Treads for you
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet have seen an absolute whirlwind of bug-related issues since launch. However, this past weekend may mark one of the lowest points for the games yet. First, Pokemon Home integration was prematurely announced and then swiftly recalled, with the note that support would be added “soon.” Then, within the same 24-hour period, dedicated Scarlet & Violet players found that all Tera Raid events scheduled for this weekend were completely pulled.
Game Freak initially announced that trainers could face Great Tusk and Iron Treads as event Tera Raid battles from May 19 to May 21. These two would join the rerun event for 7-Star Chesnaught, who first appeared on May 12. However, players quickly reported rampant crashing issues after finishing these encounters. Subsequently, the Japanese Pokemon Twitter account announced the cancellation of the planned events within hours of their launch. We wouldn’t see confirmation of this news from an official English source until roughly 13 hours later.
No announcement cites the exact source of the crashing. However, players anecdotally shared that they received an item called “None” after fighting Great Tusk or Iron Treads. Regardless of the cause, Game Freak pulled all three Tera Raid events, including the Chesnaught fight that previously worked fine.
The Pokemon Company has announced that any news regarding a rescheduling of these events will come at a later date.
We have identified an issue that could result in an error after facing 5 star Great Tusk and Iron Treads raids in #PokemonScarletViolet. These Raid battles will be suspended, including Chesnaught with the Mightiest Mark. https://t.co/CqJ4jBqJKg
— Play Pokémon (@playpokemon) May 19, 2023
No end to the glitches
This news frankly hits harder for these events than they might otherwise. The Chesnaught event initially launched alongside one of the biggest releases of this year. Naturally, many trainers hoped to catch it during this rerun weekend instead. Additionally, Great Tusk and Iron Treads are version-exclusive Pokemon, so having free reign to catch both was significant. As much of a bummer as it is to miss these events, it’s even worse for people who caught game crashes instead of any new monsters.
The bug-ridden state of Scarlet & Violet was bad enough at launch. However, snafus like these indicate a shocking lack of care for the highest-grossing media franchise in the world. Glitches and performance issues haven’t been meaningfully addressed in the game, yet Tera Raids prove to be a vehicle for more bugs to enter the game’s ecosystem. The fact that the errors with this raid seem obvious indicates a dire state of affairs. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet feature genuinely great ideas that push the series forward in exciting directions. Fans deserve to see those ideas fully realized, instead of needing to dig through unpolished messes just to find them.
The Pokemon Company has yet to announce any Tera Raid events for the weekend of May 26-28. In the meantime, official sources say “Should you see the affected Raid Battles, we ask players not to participate.”
