‘Pokémon’ wins April Fools’ day with adorable ‘Sleep’ championship contest

1 April, 2024

Pokémon has won April Fools’ day 2024 by announcing a Champion Tournament for Sleep.

Released in July 2023, Pokémon Sleep is a sleep-tracking app that rewards users with different Pokémon, depending on the quality and length of their sleep. “Playing this game is simple: just place your smartphone by your pillow, then go to sleep,” reads an official description.

However, to celebrate April Fools’ day, Pokémon has released a four-minute video, showcasing a championship tournament for the game.

Featuring an arena full of screaming fans holding up signs saying “good night” and “sweet dreams”, the contest is hosted by Kenny Mattress and Chris Pillow who provide live play-by-play coverage of an “unprecedented shut-eye scrimmage”.

Taking place over eight-and-a-half-hours, the Sleep tournament rewards players for speed of slumber, sleep rhythm and “all around sleep style artistry”.

The contest starts with a number of Sleep players entering booths and preparing themselves for a “serious night of non-stop sleep” via lullabies, comfy pyjamas and reading an overly complex book. From there on out, it’s a total snooze fest.

The video ends with a “coming soon…” tease.

Shortly after the launch of Pokémon Sleep, players discovered they could simply pretend to sleep in order to “speedrun” the game.

Elsewhere this April Fools’ day, gamers have had to contend with the usual fake release date for Hollow Knight: Silksong. Despite plenty of speculation, Hollow Knight: Silksong still doesn’t have a release date after being delayed from 2023.

Meanwhile, social media has seen “leaked” artwork confirming the imminent release of the original Resident Evil that would leapfrog the expected launch of Resident Evil 9 and confirmation that Studio Ghibli was working on a Legend Of Zelda documentary.

In other news TimeSplitters Rewind, a fan-led project rebuilding the FPS’s multiplayer mode, has released a video asking for help to complete the game with the “state” of the gaming industry slowing down their progress.

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