After Tencent shut down Pokémon Unite studio TiMi Montreal, we all knew that the mobile game was in trouble, but now, we seem to have reached the official beginning of the end for it. The Pokémon Championship Series released its list of changes for the 2027 season, and Pokémon Unite will not be played as part of the series next year. A dying pro scene means that there'll be even fewer eyeballs on the game, which we know has been struggling anyway. Is it just a matter of 'when' not 'if' it comes to the end of the Pokémon MOBA?
The consolation prize for players exists in the form of a standalone tournament in Japan next year. Pokémon Unite will pay for teams to travel to Japan to compete, but as of right now, there are no dates or qualification information to speak of. The tournament is the only guarantee we have that Unite will still be running next year, but there's time for plans to fall through if TiMi stops live service before then, as the details are vague. As for pro teams, it's a dubious time for them, as they have no guaranteed competitions anymore - and potentially no guaranteed game.
Alongside the announcement, the Pokémon Championship website says, "Play! Pokémon would like to thank all the dedicated teams, competitors, and organizations in the Pokémon Unite community for the spirit and passion they have brought to battles around the world". It's a pretty heartbreaking statement, especially for us fans of the game. I can't help but wonder what went so wrong with Unite - in theory, a Pokémon MOBA like it should have done well, but it's not the best Pokémon game. It's not over yet, I guess.
The Pokémon Championship Series 2027 also made a few other changes to the format, including the move of the North America International Championship to Chicago, age adjustments, and VGC device changes. The latter is important because, for video games like Pokémon Champions, mobile will not be supported at the competition. The VGC Championship will only allow competitors to play on the Nintendo Switch and its successor.
Pokémon Unite is available on the Switch, so that rule shouldn't be the reason for its removal from the Championship, but whatever the truth, it's a bit of an arbitrary rule if you ask me. Pros that are accustomed to playing on their phones will have to adjust pretty quickly in time for next year's play, and anything that limits mobile esports seems like a bit of a tragedy to me. Oh well. It seems like the new Pokémon world order is on its way.
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