Announced last year to confused head tilts, Pokémon Unite is an online battle arena game in which teams of five pocket monsters battle it out over a strange substance know as Aeos energy. Today The Pokémon Company and TiMi Studio Group announced that the free-to-start PokéMOBA launches on Switch next month, with a mobile release slated for September.
Pokémon Unite is another one of those pocket monster games that takes place on a remote island where people treat Pokémon differently than they do in the main series games. In this case, the people of Aeos Island, under the auspices of the Unite Battle Committee, join together with other trainers to form teams of five Pokémon to see which team can harvest the most Aeos energy before the time runs out. Pokémon start off every match at level one, gaining experience and evolving by battling the enemy team’s monsters as well as the computer-controlled critters roaming the map.
The game is free-to-start, which means anyone with a Switch will be able to download and play when it launches next month. It also means this game will feature microtransactions. Pokémon Unite has three types of in-game currency: Aeos gems which are purchased with real money, and Aeos coins and tickets, earned through play. Aeos gems can be used to purchase cosmetic items for trainers or held items for pocket monsters. There is also a seasonal Battle Pass, which players can complete by performing in-game actions in order to unlock special gear.
It looks like the most un-Pokémon game in the history of Pokémon games, what with the team-based violence and fast action. Of course, in the world of Pokémon everyone is friends and the violence is just fun, so we’ll see how that all pans out next month when Pokémon Unite launches on the Switch.