You might want to be cautious playingPokemon ScarletandVioletfor the time being. Several players have reported that theirPokemon Scarlet / Violetsave files were wiped following themost recent game update, and there isn’t a clear cause just yet.
Over on the game’s subreddit, as reported byKotaku, players have been discussing the issue. Reports of the issue arepopping up in a thread here, starting with “at least 5” and climbing from there.
“Obviously this is a small number of players overall, but people need to be aware there is some level of risk,” wrote the original poster. “I lost a 595 hour save file because of this, and so far nothing can be done to recover my save.”
Right now, the silver lining is that this issue seems to be affecting a relatively small pocket of the overallScarletandVioletplayer base. The bad news is that no overt cause has been figured out by those affected yet.
Some report it happening around some of thepostcardandPokemon Gointegration, whileanother usersays it happened “right after” purchasing the DLC. While theGointegration is a recurring theme, the outright cause seems unclear, and may not even involve it, as some have reported the issue without connecting toGoor buying the upcoming DLC. Users arecurrently investigating what the cause is, and trying to reverse-engineer what happened.
We’ve reached out to Nintendo for comment and further information.
Cloud cover
Importantly,Pokemon ScarletandVioletdon’t have cloud backup options through Nintendo Switch Online. There is a separate back-up option, which can be accessed using the button combination X-B-Up. But, as the thread’s original poster states, some users are unable to even access the screen where they could do that.
Couple that withPokemon Homenot being active yet forScarletandViolet, and it puts those affected by this particular bug in a bind. Even if it’s only affecting a few people, I can’t imagine how I’d take it if my beautiful Annihilape disappeared into the ether. Hopefully there’s a fix on the way for those affected.
