After The Pokémon Company ordered yesterday the development team behind the favourite Pixelmon mod to shut it down, disgruntled supporters of the popular mod took to Change.org earlier today to petition Pokémon creators to keep Pixelmon alive. In a matter of hours, the petition garnered the support of 3,450 people as of this writing.
Daniel Phillips, the fan who started the petition, said he, on behalf of the community, wants The Pokémon Company and Nintendo to know how fans feel towards the sudden shutdown of the Minecraft mod.
"Pixelmon isn't just another Minecraft mod. It's been so much more than that," says Phillips. "For myself, it's helped me reach out to those in need of support, of friendship, and creating communities, large and small, together. It's been about the love we all share for little, fictional monsters."
Phillips went on to say that Pixelmon has succeeded in bringing so many people together in a community of Pokémon and Minecraft fans. Phillips, who owns a Pixelmon server, said he and his staff are all "heartbroken", "beaten down, discarded, and pushed around" for stripping away the privilege "to be a child again".
"Please, for the good of an ever growing community and the love it holds, do not shut down Pixelmon," pleads Phillips. "That's the whole purpose of Pokémon I thought? To let you be a child again?"
At the end of the petition, Phillips singly called out the attention of Satoshi Tajiri, creator of Pokémon, saying: "You, Satoshi Tajiri, started Pokémon because of a loved past time you had of collecting insects. Don't take this away from us. Please."
The petition is addressed to The Pokémon Company and Nintendo and has already amassed 3,450 signatures at this time.
Yesterday, lead developer MrMasochism announced that his team is shutting down Pixelmon per cease and desist order of The Pokémon Company, saying: "With much sadness, but keeping all our fond memories, we must announce that Pixel is ending its development. I'm sorry for the disappointment this will cause but let's remember all the great times we had playing Pixelmon, discussing Pokémon, making awesome things inside this mod and everything else that we've done."
