Pokemon Unite is a Team-Based Pokemon Game Coming to Switch, Mobile

The second Pokemon Presents for June aired today and contrary to most expectations, it didn’t pull the curtain back on Pokemon Let’s Go Johto. Instead, The Pokemon Company unveiled a new Pokemon game for Nintendo Switch called Pokemon Unite.

Pokemon Unite is a collaboration between The Pokemon Company and Tencent (Timi Studios in particular), and it’s the first strategic, team-based Pokemon game.

You’ll take part in real-time battles with teams of five Pokemon each. It’s a cooperative game where you must team up with an ally to catch wild Pokemon in the field and take over bases on the map. Whoever scores the most points at the end of the time limit is the winner, so you’ll need to defend your own bases too.

It’s designed so anyone can pick it up and dive in, but Pokemon Unite also has enough depth to keep experienced players interested for a long time — at least according to the developers.

Like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, you’ll grow each Pokemon by choosing its moves, and you’ll want to balance each team with short and long-range moves.That takes precedence as far as planning, since type advantages don’t exist in Pokemon Unite. You’ll level up as always by defeating opponents in the field.

Pokemon Unite includes new Unite Moves unique to each Pokemon. These can turn the tide of battle, but you’ll need to choose the right moment to unleash them and try to deal with the effects of your opponent’s Unite Moves.

Pokemon Unite is coming out as a free-to-start game for Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, and it also supports cross-platform play. As for when Pokemon Unite is coming out, there’s no actual release date yet — or even a timeframe.

Check out last week’s Pokemon Presents if you missed some of the big announcements like New Pokemon Snap. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Pokemon Unite news as it storms the field.