Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s corrupted save data error may have a fix

Player claims to have found a workaround for save data losses
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s corrupted save data error may have a fix
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s corrupted save data error may have a fix /

Fear has recently gripped many Pokémon Scarlet and Violet players due to a mysterious bug that causes the game’s entire save data to be lost. No one has really figured out why that error exists and suggestions include the game’s newest update, the pre-ordering of the DLC, or the newly introduced connection with Pokémon Go as culprits.

This wouldn’t be a huge problem if cloud saves were allowed for Pokémon video games, but Nintendo is fearful of people abusing this feature to duplicate Pokémon. So even though these errors are extremely rare, players have fallen into a deep paranoia about the bug biting them and losing all their progress as a result.

A Reddit user called TragGaming claims to have found a solution to one type of this problem that has recently been observed, the “Save Data is Corrupted” error. They say that they have run this fix through tests with three different saves and two different Nintendo Switch consoles.

First you should make sure that you are using your Home Switch if you’re using the digital edition of the game. If you have the game on disc, this is nothing you need to worry about. Afterwards, follow these steps:

  1. Check if you’re actually getting the “Save Data is Corrupted” error and not just a regular crash.
  2. Open an alternate Nintendo Switch account or use a different existing one.
  3. Use this account to play the game up to the point where you can save and then make a save.
  4. Close the game immediately after saving, switch to your main account, and load up your game.

Loading in after these steps, the user claims, should work as normal and allow you to keep playing on your old save without losing any progress. “No clue what causes this to work or why data gets corrupted, but this should allow you to work around the bug and play your game,” the user concludes.

Players are still waiting for Nintendo and Game Freak to provide an official fix for the problem. Many are torn between risking their saves to play and remaining patient for the developer to respond, even though this could mean that they are missing out on the Decidueye Tera Raid event.


Published
Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg