Fans are not happy with Pokémon TCG Pocket trading restrictions

Last Thursday, the official Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket X/Twitter account posted an update regarding a long-awaited feature: trading. Fans have been awaiting it since the mobile game was released back in October. But the new mechanic appears to come with some stipulations that fans are not too happy about.

Pokémon TCG Pocket trading details are not what fans were hoping for

Pokémon has long been one of, if not the most, profitable media franchises in the world. This is helped by its wide range of products, from the video games that started it all, to the trading card game, various merchandise, movies, TV shows, and perhaps most notably over the last decade, incredibly popular mobile games like Pokémon GO and the more recent Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket. Pocket was released on October 30th, 2024, and within its first month reportedly earned at least $200 million, according to AppMagic via PocketGamer.biz.

Last Thursday, the developers posted an update about trading, a feature that would allow many users to exchange with friends to perhaps finally acquire that one card that would complete their collection. The feature still does not have a release date but has been confirmed for some time in January. This all sounds great for fans of the game, until they look at the finer details.

According to the post from the official Pokémon TCG Pocket X/Twitter account:

This means that many of the games rarest cards will not be tradeable, leaving players searching for those cards stuck trying their luck with daily packs or spending money to up their chances, even if their friends have multiple copies of the card they are looking for.

The update also explains that “Items must be consumed in order to trade.” In a game that is already flooded with myriads of in-game currencies, players are worried that this will be yet another currency to monitor. But there are still hopes that trading will use one of the currencies that already exists.

Unhappy players have been sounding off on social media, with several popular replies to the initial update pointing out that the word “trading” is in the name of the game and yet it appears it will be the most limited feature of the experience. Others on Reddit asked fellow players if these restrictions essentially make trading pointless for players who have been steadily building their collection since October.

The official Pocket X/Twitter account replied to their own post, saying:

For now, we will have to wait to see what happens when trading eventually launches and how both players and developers respond.

• Pokemon (franchise)
• patches and updates
• mobile