Pokemon Legends: Arceus will be launching on January 28, 2022. However, some fans are concerned about the project’s quality due to it releasing sooner than many expected. 

Game Freak surprised the Pokemon community on May 26 when they revealed that Pokemon Legends: Arceus will be hitting stores on January 28, 2022. That date was shocking to many as the project is coming out only two months after the Sinnoh remakes, Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl.

The announcement immediately sparked a debate online as many players voiced their concerns over the open-world title’s quality. The discussion comes off the heels of fans being critical of the game’s debut trailer in February 2021 which some argued looked unpolished and “janky.”

Pokemon fans concerned about Pokemon Legends: Arceus

On May 26, The Pokemon Company revealed the box art and release date for Pokemon Legends. Fans were immediately stunned by its January 2022 release date as some had expected that the game would make its debut on the Switch much further out.

The reaction to the surprising announcement quickly turned critical as some players took to social media to voice their concerns about the project releasing “too soon”. Many argued that the game was not getting the proper development time needed for an open-world title.

“That’s too early, Gamefreak is too incompetent to make a good looking and optimized game in such a small amount of time,” a fan wrote. Another agreed and said “Way too early for it to be polished. Especially seeing how Game Freak games barely get better closer to release.”

Some even called for it to be delayed, such as one player who tweeted, “This needs to be delayed, why have them so close together and it looked rough.”

While many fans believe that the game didn’t have sufficient development time, Serebii’s Joe Merrick hit out at these claims and stated: “Seen so many inaccuracies and mistruths stated as fact, so let me put corrections out there. No, Legends Arceus hasn’t only had 1 year of development. No, Legends Arceus isn’t being released “early”.

The popular Pokemon insider followed up with another tweet to clarify Legends: Arceus’ debut trailer. “What we saw is an Alpha build of the game, this is where most features and assets are done, but before the polish stage. That doesn’t mean it was shown “way too early” or “has years left to get it good.”

What we saw is an Alpha Build of the game, this is where most features and assets are done, but before the polish stage and the bug fix stage that deals with things like fixing frame rates etc.

That doesn't mean it was shown "way too early" or "has years left to get it good"

— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) May 27, 2021

Will Pokemon Legends: Arceus get a Switch Pro version?

Not helping matters, a rumor emerged on May 26 about Legends: Arceus having a better version on the highly anticipated Switch Pro. Pokemon leaks account ‘CentroLeaks’ tweeted: “We have said this before and will say it again: Prepare your wallet if you want to play the best version of Pokémon Legends.”

The outlet then followed up and said, “You will really want to play this in the new revision. And good luck getting a unit with scalpers around :(”

Fans were not too happy, to say the least, especially after many felt the game was being rushed. The idea of needing new hardware to get the “good version” didn’t sit well with some.

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And good luck getting an unit with scalpers around 🙁

— Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) May 27, 2021

Despite the backlash, many Pokemon insiders and experts cautioned fans making assumptions about how long the open-world title has actually been in development.

Given that not everyone loved the way Pokemon Legends: Arceus looked in its debut trailer, its surprising release date isn’t likely to calm those fearful for its final release.

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