Pokemon Unite Interview: Producer Masaaki Hoshino On Matchmaking, Player Feedback, And The Future

thegamer.com:

Last weekend’s Pokemon World Championships were a long overdue celebration of the competitive Pokemon. The first WCS in three years was notable for a few reasons. It was the first (and only) championship to feature Sword & Shield in the VGC, the first TCG championship to feature a rotation set entirely in the Sword & Shield era, and the final year that Pokken Tournament DX will be part of the WCS. This year also marked the WCS introduction of Pokemon Go and, remarkably, Pokemon Unite, which is currently celebrating its first anniversary. Unite’s presence at Worlds is a particularly big deal for fans, both because it legitimizes the competitive scene, and because it provides an opportunity for the community to connect directly with the developers - something that hasn’t always been easy for Pokemon Unite players.

If you follow Unite closely, there has been a noticeable lack of communication between the developers and the community throughout its first year. Unite has a handful of issues like any new game, but its biggest problem has always been the way that player feedback has gone unacknowledged. The Unite community is a passionate group of players that want to see the game grow and improve, but without any kind of consistent communication from The Pokemon Company or TiMi Studio Group, it’s been hard to gauge whether or not the developers are even listening. The most we ever seem to get are rudimentary patch notes that sometimes conflict when you read them in different languages and almost always have to be supplemented by in-game testing. Unite has offered great ways to provide feedback via surveys, but there hasn’t been any indication that that feedback has been received.

After speaking with producer Masaaki Hoshino