Fans criticized Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, but the games still became hits

The games were released on February 27, 2026, and were sold separately in digital format, not through the Nintendo Switch Online library. This sparked a wave of criticism: some players felt that Nintendo was asking too high a price for old projects.

After launch, another controversial point was discussed — the profanity filter. It restricted the use of certain names, and some fans perceived this as censorship.

But the scandals had little effect on sales. Despite disputes over cost and changes, players still actively bought updated versions of classic Pokémon, and sales reached 4 million copies in 6 weeks after release.

The series once again showed that even with a large number of complaints, it is capable of turning audience dissatisfaction into millions of copies sold.