Pokemon Sword and Shield Eliminates Hacked Raids With New Update

A new Pokemon Sword and Shield update has all but eliminated hacked raids from the game by making them not appear in the Y-Comm system. The Pokemon Company rolled out the new update, Version 1.2.1, earlier today, which contains a major overhaul of the Y-Comm system and now actively searches for hacked data when searching for raids to post publicly. While hacked raids still work on the local level, it's now much harder for a player to access a hacked raid online. Additionally, it's likely that the update also includes a way to monitor who gets around the restrictions, as the Pokemon Company and Nintendo were already handing out bans to players who either set up or participated in hacked raids.

"Hacked raids" allowed Pokemon Sword and Shield players to obtain previously unobtainable Pokemon in the game through Max Raid Battles. By inserting data into the game, players could battle Pokemon like Solgaleo or Mewtwo, Pokemon that can be transferred to the game but shouldn't appear in raids. Not only could players battle Legendary Pokemon, hackers also made it so that players could easily find Shiny Pokemon in raids (which is possible under non-hacked circumstances, but much more rare)...or even Shiny Legendary Pokemon.

Hacked raids were a problem for Pokemon Sword and Shield and it appears that the game's developers are pushing ahead to stamp them down once and for all. The update has all but eliminated hacked raids in the short term, although it's likely that hackers will probably find ways to work around the Pokemon Company's patches, so here's to hoping that the game continues to be vigilant as they get ready to release the next wave of DLC content later this year.

The new update for Pokemon Sword and Shield is available to download now.