Pokemon Pokopia Build Leaks Online, Can Play Early

Pokémon Pokopia surprised us all when it was announced during the last major Nintendo Direct, but what’s even more surprising is a leak of the game’s demo.

Many Pokémon fans were confused and a little disappointed when it was first presented, as many were expecting something a little more substantial from a Pokémon announcement like the addition of the classic games to Nintendo Switch Online.

Others attacked the gameplay, believing it to be a cheap attempt to copy the success of Animal Crossing; but with Pokémon characters added to the mix.

Judging by a leaked prototype, Pokémon Pokopia would have more in common with Valley of Stars at some point.

Shared via Centro LEAKS, the leaked gameplay looks similar to what we saw in the reveal trailer, but from a different, more zoomed-in perspective.

The biggest difference lies in the main objective of the game. In Pokémon Pokopia you’ll build a home//community for a wide variety of Pokémon as Ditto. By copying other Pokémon’s abilities, you’ll be able to do more and more with your field, but in the prototype version of the game, other Pokémon do all the work.

Players have apparently assigned their Pokémon to do tasks for them, with the player character simply reaping the rewards.

Obviously, at some point in the game’s life, plans changed and 3D graphics were implemented, or they were always planned and this prototype was simply used to nail the core mechanics of the game. Either way, fans are right in thinking that this is clearly trying to build on the success of games like Animal Crossing and Valley of Stars.

For those who wish to play the first version of Pokémon Pokopia you can find it online, although I can’t imagine it will last long as The Pokemon Company is notoriously protective of its intellectual property.

Future Pokémon games

Recently, Game Freak and The Pokemon Company suffered a massive data breach that leaked plans for multiple generations of games.

After Pokémon Legends: ZA and next year’s Pokémon Pokopia The next games in the series will return to the traditional formula we’ve come to know and love over the years, and apparently they’ll be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2.

However, the Legends series isn’t over yet, as it has become the fifth best-selling Pokémon game and apparently another Legends game set in Galar is under consideration/development.