Has the Masuda Method been proven?

Question

I'm not saying that Game Freak is lying, but they could be to encourage breeders to breed even more.

I'm asking this because I have gotten only one shiny trying the Masuda Method. I started in Black/White in 2011. I still breed in X and Y, and I got my first shiny after 3 years.

Answer 1

Yup, it's 100% legit.

The method is named after Game Freak director Junichi Masuda, who programmed it into Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. He documented the method in his blog,1 where he mentioned a way that "rare colored Pokémon's Egg can be found little easier." The mechanics behind the method were discovered by Smogon.
~Bulbapedia

But you have to remember that the normal Shiny encounter rate is 1/4096 which is extremely low and even with the Masuda Method it is still a tiny chance of obtaining a shiny (5/4096).

So your foreign lovers will not be constantly popping out shiny offspring.

Source

Comments

"So your foreign lovers will not be constantly popping out shiny offspring."
Lel sciz

Answer 2

Yes, the method is proven to be more efficient in netting shiny Pokemon. The shiny rate drops quite a bit but it is no secret why the method was created either.

>The Masuda method was likely coded as incentive for players to use the GTS's international trading services.

Junichi Masuda probably wanted more people to trade with other countries, so he programmed this in in generation IV.

Source

Answer 3

>but they could be to encourage breeders to breed even more.

Well first off, I think there's a flaw in that logic. A major one.
Well think about this. WHY would Gamefreak encourage you to breed more? It doesn't actually earn them any revenue. It doesn't advertise the game in any way. It does nothing beneficial for GameFreak at all - Why would they bother lieing to you, if all it does would be to potentially decrease their reputation, and has no benefits whatsoever.
Major Corporations run on the basis of increasing their profits by any means possible - preferably legal.

In that sense your idea that Gamefreak is lieing is completely off.

Anyway;
>The mechanics behind the method were discovered by Smogon.

If you read Masuda's blog here
He specifically says 'rare colored Pokémon's Egg can be found little easier' - there is no actual mention of percentages, and the actual rate of increase.
Hackers are the one who have probably fond the actual rate of increase - which means that they have actually found the coding inside the games themselves relating to the Masuda Method.
ie. It's legit.

TLDR: Masuda Method has been proven, you've just been unlucky