Cozy Pokemon spin-off Pokopia is impressing fans with its Animal Crossing: New Horizons vibes and Minecraft mechanics, but players hoping to enjoy the new Nintendo gem in co-op – particularly via GameShare – are expressing disappointment with multiplayer.
If there's one thing folks were looking forward to – aside from the whole island-building bit, of course – in Pokopia, it's the four-player multiplayer and GameShare functionality between the Switch 2 and its predecessor that trailers showed last year.
People wanted to play with pals, partners, and you name it… and they wanted a better co-op experience after Animal Crossing's more limited take on multiplayer. Now that Pokopia is finally here, however, folks are sadly discovering that neither co-op nor GameShare is what it seemed cracked up to be in 2025.
As one fan reports on Reddit, "PSA: The GameShare is awful and might as well not exist." They explain their thoughts, writing, "The Switch 1 player is only able to wander around and do nothing."
PSA The gameshare is awful and might as well not exist from r/Pokopia
The poster continues, explaining that the person on the first Switch basically can't do much of anything, from changing their appearance to crafting items. "I'm so disgusted. I only got this game to play with my girlfriend, and you can't do anything. 0/10, stay far away if you want this game for co-op. There is nothing here."
They're not alone in feeling this way, either. "GameShare is SOOOO BADDD," exclaims another player in a separate post. Not only can you not play the story mode together, but you "can't interact with ANY Pokemon, can only play in certain areas, can't craft items, can't open the Pokedex, and can't customize your character," as the disappointed fan outlines.
"You CANNOT OPEN CHESTS? It can't even be Pokemon Minecraft, you can't even craft."
GameShare is SOOOO BADDD from r/Pokopia
According to the poster, "98% of the mechanics are unavailable to GameShare players." In GameShare, you can only do a few things, apparently: pick up certain objects, put blocks down, and use the skills the host has unlocked.
It's understandably upsetting – heck, I was excited to play alongside friends myself. As another online thread puts it, "GameShare is disappointing." It's a "sour note on an otherwise perfect game."
News of the letdown that is Pokopia co-op, specifically via GameShare, is spreading far and wide. One person amusingly points out that they're "just a glorified pack mule" as the second player – and, yeah, it unfortunately does seem so.
Here's hoping Nintendo hears fans' cries and acts on them – I know I'll be waiting.
