Early copies have been going out and people have been playing the new Pokémon games.
With only two more days left, Pokémon Sword and Shield have been highly anticipated for a good while now despite the National Pokédex controversy and negative fan responses regarding the games’ graphics and animations. While the games were leaked earlier, there is a new concern going on today.
If you are an active watcher on YouTube and Twitch, there are videos and live streams roaming around. There’s a chance you might see some clips on Twitter as well if you follow anything Pokémon related. You might also see a let’s play video on YouTube that hasn’t been taken down, or someone live-streaming one of the games right now. This can be very annoying to deal with if you are patiently waiting until the games come out on the 15th this Friday.
For the time being until Friday, here is what you can do to avoid anything to do with Pokémon Sword and Shield until you get your hands on the game.
YouTube
On different web browsers, you can use an extension that will block out related keywords and YouTube channels to prevent yourself from seeing any new Pokémon content. Google Chrome has a video blocker extension, and you can create a block list of what you need not see. Firefox has a similar extension if that is your preferred browser. This is what I used when leaks for Fire Emblem: Three Houses rolled around, and it helped me experience the game without having to worry about spoilers. From channels to keywords, this is a sure way to help you be spoiler-free on YouTube.
Twitch
Twitch is a risky site because you can type in the game titles, and you will encounter people live streaming them on Twitch. Sometimes, they’ll pop up in your channel recommendations if you watch people who live stream Pokémon related content. The one accurate way to prevent any gameplay showing is to block the Twitch users who are streaming the games. You will have to go to one of their streams and into the chat, where you will encounter who is watching and who is the broadcaster. Click on the broadcaster, and there will be a popup where you will be able to block them. For a more detailed guide, click here.
Twitter works similarly to YouTube, but unlike the latter, Twitter has a feature where you can block words for a set amount of time. In your settings, there is a section for words and accounts you can mute. You can have an unlimited amount of keywords put in as well as mute the Twitter users who are showing off screenshots or gameplay of the games.
