The official digital version of the Pokemon trading card game has some anticipated packs and releases in the works. Most notably, a Mega Evolution expansion which recently had its release date leaked (October 30th) and promises to provide a massive overhaul for the game.
Until then, the Deluxe Pack ex has been released as a hype train stand-in, but far from all of the new content promised by the Mega Evolution expansion, this update has proved controversial with fans.
The cause of this controversy is multi-faceted. Much of the criticism is directed at the content of the update itself, while others are choosing to focus on what hasn’t been fixed or updated with the app, despite repeated criticisms.
Pokemon TCG Deluxe Pack ex
The Deluxe Pack ex proudly offers “353 new cards” but many fans of the game would contest this, as none of the cards are actually new.
Only the artwork or foil filter is new, with the cards themselves being lifted straight out of previous expansions. That has immediately left players wondering what the point of the update is, especially as these new variants of cards show up as new cards, meaning that they must be collected to complete challenges.
The final kicker for fans is that the number of cards included in packs is being reduced from five to four, which is naturally being perceived as an attempt to get more money out of players.
To round it all off, this content is only available for a month, ending on October 29, 2025, at 10:59PM PDT, adding a tight time restriction for players to meet these challenges.
Pokemon TCG Pocket Update Fails to Adress UI Problem
Many of the criticisms around Pokemon TCG Pocket are to do with the UI and how playing the game is made more difficult through quality of life issues.
For example, challenges need to be accepted individually, making this essential task more laborious and time-consuming than it needs to be, which becomes even more problematic when there’s a time limit in place.
While it’s likely being handled by different teams, it’s interesting to see how the Pokemon Company handles this live service game ahead of the release of the free to start Pokemon Champions – its standalone Pokemon battle simulator – as that’s likely to draw in a much larger crowd, which could lead to more backlash against similar design decisions.
