Although The Pokemon Company (TPC) worked with Ed Sheeran to produce "Celestial" for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, a new policy by Game Freak states that the days of such collaborations are apparently over. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet may be the last games to feature an insert song in any Pokemon title, after Game Freak turned down a proposal from TPC to produce a similar song for Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

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The new policy update from Game Freak comes amid a busy time for Pokemon fans, as leaked information from Game Freak was discussed on social media. Some of the leaked documents and images showed what Pokemon's Gen 10 titles could look like, though all the uncovered information may not be representative of the final products. The alleged Gen 10 games, Pokemon Winds and Waves, are set in an archipelago region inspired by Indonesia and other Southeast Asian island nations. Given that The Pokemon Company has not officially commented on the leaked information, trainers should take any posts about the franchise's plans with a fine grain of salt.

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Pokemon Legends: Z-A Will Require A Day One Patch

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Pokemon Puts the Kibosh on Allowing Insert Songs in Future Games

However, Pokemon fans who are concerned about the franchise featuring songs from known recording artists can now rest easy. According to internal documents shared by Pokemon leaker Centro on Twitter, Pokemon games will generally disallow insert songs under an updated policy implemented by Game Freak. Even though Pokemon Scarlet and Viole t used "Celestial" by Ed Sheeran as the credits theme, a similar proposal from TPC to include a song in Pokemon Legends: Z-A was rejected by Game Freak. During the initial launch of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, some Pokemon content creators on Twitch were hit with DMCA copyright strikes for listening to "Celestial" during their broadcasts.

Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly at the beginning of the game - Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

To get around any DMCA strikes during the credits, some Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players used a mod that removed "Celestial" from both games. Although the mod to remove "Celestial" came just after Pokemon Scarlet and Violet went live, using it required trainers to modify their Switch consoles, which could be a tricky endeavor on its own. Given that Nintendo can effectively brick any modified Switch 2 console via its anti-tampering methods, Pokemon's updated policy should take at least one concern off the minds of content creators.

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Additional policy updates also stated that TPC should not commission official artwork for Pokemon without Game Freak's input, with a few event-related exceptions. Plus, Game Freak stated that Pokemon TCG cards should not be included with physical copies of any Pokemon games. It remains to be seen how long Game Freak's new policies will remain in place.

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6 /10

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
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RPG
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Systems
super greyscale 8-bit logo
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Top Critic Avg: 71 /100 Critics Rec: 48%
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Released
November 18, 2022
ESRB
E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence
Developer(s)
Game Freak
Publisher(s)
Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
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Genre(s)
RPG

Source: CentroLeaks