On June 10, 2024, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company released a free “Slight Remaster” update for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet on Nintendo Switch 2. Official developer notes confirm full 4K output docked at a locked 60fps, slashed load times and vastly improved world streaming. Early tests by Digital Foundry and Eurogamer video comparisons back up the claims, showing a dramatic technical overhaul.
Nintendo’s official blog (June 10, 2024) outlines the patch’s key upgrades:
The update is available at no extra cost to all existing owners of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet who upgrade to Switch 2 hardware.
Digital Foundry’s June 11 analysis reports that menus, world transitions and fast-travel load screens now execute in a fraction of their former time. For example, booting a save file dropped from 19.2 seconds to 4.8 seconds (Digital Foundry, 2024). Eurogamer’s side-by-side footage shows sharper textures on character models and environments, with weather effects running at the full frame target even during heavy rain.
World streaming improvements allow roaming packs of wild Pokémon to appear at distances of up to 100 meters, effectively eliminating the pop-in that plagued the original release. Frame pacing remains rock-solid across different map regions, including Paldea’s mountainous and coastal biomes.
Social media users on X (formerly Twitter) have shared enthusiastic clips and benchmarks. One post by @ArcadeAster on June 11 reads: “Scarlet & Violet feels like a new game—no more lag, no more load hell.” The hashtag #PokémonRemaster trended globally within hours of the patch’s release.
On Reddit, r/pokemon members highlighted the difference in handheld mode, noting that 60fps stability now extends to portable play. Multiple users pointed to “zero UI lag” as a key quality-of-life improvement, with one comment stating: “This is what Nintendo should have delivered at launch.”
Opinion: The technical leaps showcased in this update expose how much potential was untapped on the original Switch hardware. While the upgraded CPU and GPU in Switch 2 explain much of the performance gain, the depth of optimization suggests that Game Freak could have delivered better results at launch with a more aggressive patching approach.
This move resets expectations for mainline Pokémon titles. If subsequent releases match or exceed this standard natively—rather than through back-port remasters—it will represent a significant shift in the franchise’s development philosophy.
For players who abandoned Scarlet & Violet early, now is an optimal time to revisit Paldea—especially on Switch 2. The free update effectively transforms the game into a modern AAA RPG, matching industry norms for performance and visual clarity. Nintendo’s decision to offer this level of polish at no cost could influence how major franchises approach post-launch support, raising the bar for live service and geometry-packed titles alike.
Sources: Nintendo Official Blog (June 10, 2024); Digital Foundry video analysis (June 11, 2024); Eurogamer footage comparison; social posts on X.